Canadian GP - Free Practice 1: Leclerc in the wall, Piastri out of the top 10

Charles Leclerc ended Free Practice 1 in the wall at the Montreal circuit, where Max Verstappen topped the session ahead of the two Williams cars.

Published 13/06/2025 à 20:32

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Canadian GP – Free Practice 1: Leclerc hits the wall, Piastri out of the top 10

Photo: DPPI

It didn't take long for the first minor mistake of the weekend to occur in Montreal. Franco Colapinto was the first to make a mistake, spinning out of turn 3 without any serious consequences after just three minutes. Just over five minutes later, Charles Leclerc did even worse on the next turn.

By missing his braking, the Monegasque driver was unable to take the bend and broke his left front suspension, then tore off the entire left wing of his SF-25 after hitting the wall. The Ferrari driver, who is coming off two consecutive podiums in Monaco and Barcelona, is off to a bad start on a track where the Team had a disastrous weekend last year.

Both cars were eliminated in Q2 before both retired the next day. At the time, Charles Leclerc was accompanied by Carlos Sainz, who is having an idyllic start to the weekend with WilliamsThe Madrilenian set the third fastest time, just behind Max Verstappen and his teammate Alex AlbonThe three drivers are within a tenth of each other.

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Behind them, George Russell, in 4th, is 0.342 seconds behind his rival Max Verstappen, with whom he clashed in Spain. The Briton, who took pole position last year, is hoping to return to the podium after a lean period in the last three Grands Prix. His teammate, Kimi Antonelli, finished 13th and still seems to be struggling to build confidence after three Grands Prix without a single point.

In his defense, the Italian is one of the drivers discovering the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, on which the Formula 2 is not rolling. Also new to Canada, Isack Hadjar (6th) and Liam Lawson (8th) confirmed the good form of Racing Bulls, who will certainly once again be at the meeting point of the battle for points.

They will legitimately find there the McLaren de Lando Norris et Oscar piastri, even though the top two in the championship didn't make a big impression, far from it. Equipped with new front and rear wings, the Papayas were both outside the top 10 until the final minutes, before Lando Norris managed to move up to 7th place, almost half a second behind Max Verstappen. Oscar Piastri finished 14th.