Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated Friday Practice for 2022 Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal.
Having emerged victorious at last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Verstappen carried his momentum into Friday Practice as he dominated both sessions without much challenge up front.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc meanwhile finished second-fastest overall ahead of his teammate – Carlos Sainz as both drivers improved in FP2, having endured a relatively quiet experimental FP1 session by the Scuderia’s standards.
Now here is a full roundup of both sessions which saw threats of rain stay away as Verstappen dominated.
FP1
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was first out on track as the pit exit lights flashed green ahead of several drivers looking to beat a dark rain cloud and get dry data gathering in, yet the wet weather failed to materialise throughout the session.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz soon set the initial pace on medium tyres of 1m 19.708 but Red Bull’s Max Verstappen soon went top with 1m 17.991 just seconds later, which he quickly lowered to 1m 16.507 on his next lap before he found 0.804s on his third flier.
Sergio Perez was the first driver to displace Verstappen as he went top in the 14th minute with 1m 15.660 which nobody else failed to better in the opening half-hour, as the Mexican headed Verstappen and Lance Stroll, although Stroll had done his soft tyre running earlier than usual.
Several drivers soon afterwards followed suit with their soft tyre Qualifying simulations as Sainz went top in the 33rd minute with 1m 15.441, only for Verstappen four minutes later to top the session with 1m 15.158 ahead of Sainz by 0.246s and Fernando Alonso on mediums rounded out the top three.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon meanwhile encountered the only major issue of this session as his front-right brakes failed in the 14th minute, although the Frenchman did get back out on track and finished 15th fastest.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 15.158 |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.246 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 0.373 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.461 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.508 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.664 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.719 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.719 |
| 9 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 0.883 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 0.925 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 1.007 |
| 12 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.053 |
| 13 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.150 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.164 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.263 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.268 |
| 17 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 1.994 |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 2.065 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 2.083 |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 2.397 |
FP2
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou were first out on track whilst Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel found himself under investigation for an unsafe release, as the German exited his pit garage into the path of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
Zhou set the initial benchmark on medium tyres of 1m 20.145 but was swiftly displaced by several drivers as Verstappen went quickest, having posted 1m 15.618 on medium tyres in the fourth minute.
Verstappen found 0.522s on his next lap to go quicker before lowering his benchmark by a further 0.304s to 1m 14.792 as everyone else struggled to get close with Leclerc and Sainz third once the opening runs were completed.
That top three order stayed the same after Qualifying simulations on soft tyres were completed as Verstappen posted a session-topping 1m 14.127 in the 27th minute, yet Leclerc finished 0.081s slower in second ahead of Sainz who was 0.225s adrift in third.
Vettel, Alonso, Pierre Gasly, George Russell, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten, as everyone safely emerged from their race simulations unscathed with very little drama even despite fears of rain showers in the closing minutes not materialising eventually.
Bottas was the only driver to not set a lap time after anti-stall issues prevented him from doing any representative running, as he only managed three laps in total.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 14.127 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.081 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.225 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 0.315 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 0.416 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 0.752 |
| 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.844 |
| 8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.860 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 0.906 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.992 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.040 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.269 |
| 13 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.294 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.372 |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 1.389 |
| 16 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 1.399 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.440 |
| 18 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 2.044 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 2.382 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | No Time Set |
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