Andrea Kimi Antonelli topped a disrupted opening practice session in Montreal that was interrupted twice by red flags and extended to recover lost time.
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The longest stoppage followed an incident for Alexander Albon, who hit a groundhog while exiting turn seven. The animal went under Albon’s front-left wheel, causing a loss of grip that sent the Williams into the barrier. He retired to the pits with significant damage to the left side of his FW48. “I am so fucking unlucky,” Albon said after getting out of the car.
The session had already been halted earlier when Liam Lawson stopped at turn four with a technical problem in his Racing Bulls. Marshals were delayed recovering his car because the clutch disengagement system failed to operate, an issue that later saw the team reported to the stewards.
To recoup time lost in the only practice session of the weekend, race control added 19 minutes to the running. That extension did not help Lawson or Albon, nor Franco Colapinto, who did not leave his garage after Alpine reported a problem with the car’s power unit.
Much of the running was done on the hard compound tyre. McLaren briefly led the timing screens before the Mercedes pair moved ahead by over half a second. Antonelli set the early pace with a 1’14.392, just 0.04s up on his team mate.
George Russell was the first of the front-runners to try soft tyres, posting a 1’13.850 to reclaim the top spot. Moments later Antonelli improved markedly, recording a 1’13.402 — nearly half a second quicker than Russell — showing strong commitment through the final chicane as the dusty track gradually offered more grip.
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Russell reduced the deficit on a later run but then spun off at turn two. A more serious incident came when Esteban Ocon hit the barrier on the inside between turns four and five, damaging the nose of his car and prompting the third red flag of the session.
The session was not extended after that stoppage, but there was enough time on the clock for cars to return to track and complete practice starts. Race control noted Ocon for leaving the pit lane under a red light during the restart period.
Behind the Mercedes duo, Lewis Hamilton recorded a soft-tyre lap that left him third, more than seven-tenths off the pace. Charles Leclerc put the other Ferrari fourth, narrowly ahead of Max Verstappen, while several drivers reported being hindered by traffic or yellow flags during their soft runs.
Oscar Piastri locked up a tyre on his flying soft lap and ended seventh behind team mate Lando Norris. Fernando Alonso completed an early soft run to place his Aston Martin inside the top ten in tenth.
2026 Canadian Grand Prix first practice result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W17 | 1’13.402 | 33 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W17 | 1’13.544 | 0.142 | 35 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’14.176 | 0.774 | 36 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’14.355 | 0.953 | 36 |
| 5 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’14.366 | 0.964 | 31 |
| 6 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’14.799 | 1.397 | 32 |
| 7 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’14.963 | 1.561 | 32 |
| 8 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’15.452 | 2.050 | 33 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | R26 | 1’15.698 | 2.296 | 28 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’15.863 | 2.461 | 31 |
| 11 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | R26 | 1’16.214 | 2.812 | 33 |
| 12 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’16.253 | 2.851 | 29 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’16.497 | 3.095 | 32 |
| 14 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’16.642 | 3.240 | 15 |
| 15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’16.660 | 3.258 | 36 |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’16.809 | 3.407 | 29 |
| 17 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’16.978 | 3.576 | 30 |
| 18 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’17.431 | 4.029 | 5 |
| 19 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’17.770 | 4.368 | 26 |
| 20 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’17.868 | 4.466 | 28 |
| 21 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’17.926 | 4.524 | 28 |
| 22 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | No time | 1 |
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