F1 GP Canada, Free Live Practice: Alonso fastest before rain, Leclerc fourth. Verstappen: Engine failure

Leclerc performed well in Canada, and Verstappen had serious engine problems. The protagonist of the rain, Alonso sees the summit again

More than the bad weather, which was the main factor in the first and second free practice sessions, the real development of Friday’s Canadian Grand Prix was Verstappen’s pit stop in an atmosphere of growing excitement among the blue jerseys. The world champion covered only four laps before returning to the garage Due to a problem with the power unit. It has just been compiled, so it is a serious alarm. The team is talking about a failure in the ERS system, which is part of the hybrid system. A tough start after the last three difficult races (he won at Imola but struggled) on a track considered treacherous due to its semi-city characteristics. What happens to Red Bull, which performed admirably last year – and also at the start of this World Championship -?

Ers will be replaced in the Max car due to Saturday’s qualifying, the situation is recoverable but alarm bells remain high given the reliability over the course of the 24 GP World Championship. And also because Max ditched a session that was already threatened by intermittent rain. In such a context, the times need to be taken with a pinch of salt, at least the absolute times: Alonso has seen the summit again, and for Aston Martin Montreal, this is a special date because it is the home race of owner Lawrence Stroll. Behind the Spaniard Russell and Nezha. Leclerc is fourth, but his time was achieved on the slower tyres, the medium tyres, so it is of great importance. The confidence restored by the win in Monte Carlo is even more important: Charles felt good in wet or dry conditions. Although it was exciting to send them out on track with the mediators when the direction of the race had not yet been announced for the wet session. Wall or race control error?

Two Racing Bulls enter the top ten (Ricciardo fifth and Tsunoda eighth), and Hamilton seventh calls wet qualifying, a specialist. For the rest of the race, Pérez, revamped, finished tenth fastest. Sainz is far behind, but simply because he did not complete the flying lap before the rain hit: in FP1 he had finished second behind Norris.