Charles Leclerc crashes out of Canada first practice as Max Verstappen sets pace
Verstappen, who is a point away from a one-race ban following his collision with Mercedes' George Russell at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, ended the session just 0.039 seconds clear of Williams driver Alex Albon.
Carlos Sainz finished third in the other Williams with Russell fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth. Lando Norris was only seventh while his McLaren team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri finished down the order in 14th.
🔴 RED FLAG 🔴
Leclerc into the barriers. He's okay#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/Sdll2l0en8
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 13, 2025
Verstappen, who heads into this weekend's race 49 points behind Piastri in the standings, produced the quickest time in the opening action of the weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to lay down an early marker.
But Leclerc's preparations for the 10th round of the campaign were dealt a blow when he suffered a heavy accident with just nine laps on the board.
The Monegasque crashed into the barrier on the entry to turn four and sustained significant damage to the left-hand side of his Ferrari. The force of the impact sent him sideways and across the other side of the chicane.
'F***,' said Leclerc on the radio. 'Sorry, I am in the wall. My bad. I should have gone straight but I thought I would make the corner and I hit the wall.'
Leclerc's Ferrari mechanics will now face a race against time to ensure his car is ready for the concluding practice session of the day which begins at 17:00 local time (22:00 BST).
The session was red-flagged for eight minutes as Leclerc's stricken Ferrari was retrieved and repairs to the barriers were completed.
As Verstappen launched his Red Bull to the top of the order, Norris appeared to be struggling with the handling of his McLaren and finished 0.458 seconds behind the Dutchman.
Piastri, who has won five of the nine rounds so far and leads Norris by 10 points, was even further back, one second off Verstappen's pace.
The British team were experimenting with a new front wing and will be expected to improve in the day's second session.
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Reuters
32 minutes ago
- Reuters
F1 leader Piastri stays positive amid damage limitation talk
MONTREAL, June 14 (Reuters) - Formula One leader Oscar Piastri stayed hopeful after a qualifying session that had McLaren boss Andrea Stella talking of damage limitation in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix. The Australian will start from third on the grid with teammate Lando Norris, 10 points behind in the standings after nine of 24 races, back in seventh. Mercedes' George Russell took pole position and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, winner for the past three years, joined him on the front row in a repeat of 2024's qualifying top two at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. "Our pace on race days is generally where we're strong," Piastri, winner of five races this season and bidding to become the first Australian to take six in a single campaign, told a news conference. "These two next to me were very quick in the race runs yesterday, so it's certainly not going to be a slam dunk win, but I think we're definitely in the fight." The session, a gift for those talking up bad blood between Russell and Verstappen after a headline clash in Spain between the pair, left McLaren off the pace for once in a scrappy session. It was the first time Mercedes had taken pole this season. "The picture changes completely for the race, that's what we have to focus on," Stella told Sky Sports television. "I think in terms of race pace we should be a bit more comfortable but let's see. This weekend could be one of damage limitation." Norris will certainly have a battle on his hands to get onto the podium. "(I made) a couple of big mistakes, one hitting the wall on the last lap on the exit of turn seven and also the first lap at the final corner. Mistakes that cost me," he said. "We have not been as quick as usual, and it was maybe not the car to take pole position, but it should have been enough for the top three. "It is a very easy track to push 1% too much, and pay the price, and that's what happened today. A podium will be tough because we don't have the pace we have had of the past few races."
Reuters
33 minutes ago
- Reuters
Verstappen fed up with talk of race bans and penalty points
MONTREAL, June 14 (Reuters) - Max Verstappen showed his irritation with questions about penalty points and race bans after qualifying on the front row for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix alongside old foe George Russell. Mercedes' Russell took pole position for the second year in a row with Red Bull's Verstappen, who is chasing a fourth successive Canadian victory, second fastest. The race will be the first since the Formula One rivals collided in Spain, an incident that left Verstappen one penalty point away from a mandatory ban. Asked about "the penalty points thing" at a post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen -- who is third in the championship with Russell fourth -- did not hold back. "I don't need to hear it again. It's really pissing me off. I mean, you were speaking about it on Thursday. It's such a waste of time. It's very childish," he said. "So, that's why I also don't want to say too much because it's really annoying, this world that we live in." Verstappen acknowledged after Spain that he made a mistake in driving into Russell, an incident stemming from frustration at having to hand back a place, but the topic has followed him to Canada. With the pair lining up alongside each other, the paddock was full of discussion about what might happen on the short run down to the first corner in Sunday's race. The pair could never be described as good friends, the bad blood between them laid bare at last year's Abu Dhabi season-ender when they publicly traded accusations of bullying and lying. Russell joked on Saturday that he had fewer penalty points on his super-licence, and therefore more room to play with, but seriously did not expect any real advantage. "I don't think any driver goes out looking to crash into somebody and get penalty points on your licence. Max is one of the best drivers," he said. "There's no reason for him to race any differently, and I'm not sitting here thinking he's going to give us more room. If anything, probably the opposite to try and prove a point. "Ultimately, we're all here to win. You're not going to do something that's going to jeopardise yourself from the race. It's a busy season as well. If you get a race ban, you get a race ban and spend some time at home."
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Verstappen says race ban questions 'very childish'
Canadian Grand PrixVenue: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal Date: 15 June Race start: 19:00 BST on SundayCoverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app Max Verstappen said Formula 1 was "annoying" and that questions about him racing under the threat of a race ban were "childish".The Red Bull driver, who qualified second for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, will be contesting the lead at the start of the race with Mercedes' George Russell, who took pole position. Verstappen deliberately drove into the Briton at the last race in Spain and a resulting penalty has left him one licence point short of a race about this at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday, the Dutchman said: "I don't need to hear it again. You were speaking about it on Thursday. "It's such a waste of time. It's very childish. So, that's why I also don't want to say too much because it's really annoying, this world that we live in." Russell's pole was his first of the season and he referenced Verstappen's predicament in the context of their prospective battle for the lead in the race."We're mates so it's all good," Russell said with a smile on his face. "I have a few more points on my licence to play with, so let's see."Verstappen, who has said the incident in Spain was "not right and shouldn't have happened", said in his news conference on Thursday that the threat of a ban would not change the way he raced."I cannot just back out of everything," he said. "I'm just going to race like I always do. I trust myself."The incident in Spain was not the first moment of tension between Verstappen and had a public row at the end of last season, in which Verstappen was unhappy with what he perceived as Russell trying to get him a penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix. Russell was offended by Verstappen's comments in a conversation exchanged criticisms of each other in public, including Russell calling Verstappen a bully and Verstappen saying Russell was a backstabber. They also insulted each other after colliding in the sprint race at the 2023 Azerbajian Grand Prix. Why Mercedes have performed well in Canada Russell said his pole lap was "probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life" and that it had given him "goosebumps".The Briton let a victory slip through his fingers after taking pole in Canada last year and said he wanted to make amends for that."Last year was a poor race for me," he said, "and I felt it could've gone differently. So obviously I'll be doing my best to make up for last year's losses. "But it's totally different this year. We don't know how the race is going to pan out because the hard tyre is the one that we're all going to use at some point in the race, and no one knows if that would do the distance to give you a one-stop or not. So, there's that curveball in there."Mercedes' improved performance is down to the combination of relatively cool temperatures at just over 20C and a low-abrasion track that enables their car to keep its tyre temperatures Russell said he was wary of how the car might perform in Sunday's race."We had good race pace on Friday, but it depends on the temperature," he said. "In practice, it was 5C cooler than it was today, and the car was easily in its sweet spot. "It can easily go the other way tomorrow in the race. If the sun comes out - it's a two o'clock race, it was a four o'clock qualifying today - that makes quite a bit of difference. So, it's not going to be an easy race." Why it's been harder for McLaren The track characteristics have the opposite effect on championship leaders McLaren, whose car is the best in the field at managing tyre a consequence, McLaren have been struggling to make it operate at its best in leader Oscar Piastri is third on the grid behind Russell and Verstappen but his team-mate and title rival Lando Norris could manage only seventh, admitting that he had made two mistakes in the final session of said: "I think we can go forwards anyway, but not a lot. You know, it's not like we're easy one-two, like we have been on other tracks."It's just very low grip, first of all is one of the bigger things. And therefore the car balance just never comes together as much as what it does in other tracks."Probably just low grip and some of the kerb-riding and bumps, which just hurts us, it seems, more than some others."Norris was using a revised front suspension layout that was designed to increase the feel from the front axle of the car, the lack of which the Briton believes is important in the flip in form between himself and Piastri between last year and said it was "tough to say" whether this had improved the feeling coming from the car."This track, everything just feels different," he said. "So I think it's something we'll have to wait and see on the next few races through Austria and Silverstone and so forth to understand and maybe back-to-back tests between them both."It's nothing that I've felt just yet. But it's more that when you go to a new track, it's hard to remember everything perfectly relative to other tracks. So we just need a bit more time to understand if it's any better or not."Piastri stuck with the old layout, saying: "It's not an upgrade. It's a different part. It changes some things, some things are better, some things are worse. I have been happy with how the car has been this year."Team principal Andrea Stella said: "From Lando's point of view, there were no downsides. If anything, despite the result that we had in Q3 with Lando, pretty much right away, Lando has actually been competitive, especially compared to Oscar throughout the weekend."So we think that the experimentation of the front suspension is a successful one, and it's a preference, it's a set-up option in a way, that might be even different across drivers depending on their requirements from a driving point of view."
