Formula 1

Alonso fastest as Mercedes squabble close behind

1 Mins read

Fernando Alonso and Ferrari finished top of the time sheets at the Circuit Giles Villeneuve as the Formula One field crossed the Atlantic for the first time this season.

Clocking a time of 1:17.238 Alonso proved that the updates brought to his F14T at this race seem to have put the Mercedes pair at bay for the time being with Lewis Hamilton finishing 0.016 seconds behind and Nico Rosberg 0.146 behind the Brit.

In fourth place and for once outpacing his team mate was Sebastian Vettel with a time of 1:18.131 putting his Red Bull ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the Williams and smiley Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull.

The session started on a mercifully dry circuit following a number of showers around the Montreal circuit but Alonso – and at least a dozen other drivers – found it hard  to keep their machines on the track as they either ran wide at the hairpin or ran on to the run off area on the outside of the wall of champions. Many decided to do both.

There were no real incidents of notes in the 90 minute session, the only major incident was Jules Bianchi in the Marussia breaking his suspension after hitting the wall at turn four. He managed to struggle round to the pits but the car was shaking like the very tarmac beneath his Pirelli’s was suffering from an earthquake.

For Felipe Massa, his session ended only seven laps in after suffering from an electronics issue in his Williams putting a dampener on the opening session of his 200th race weekend. Interestingly it is only his 199th race due to his DNS at Indianapolis in 2005 following the well documented tyre issues.

The only driver not taking part in the session was Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi who gave up his seat for Alexander Rossi – he ended up finishing dead last and 4.5 seconds behind Alonso.

814 posts

About author
3rd Year Multimedia Journalism Student at Teesside University, interested in motorsport and writing about it as well. I'm also a qualified pilot but I don't mention that much.
Articles
Related posts
Formula 1

2024 Australian Grand Prix - TCF Driver of the Weekend

2 Mins read
TheCheckeredFlag Driver of the Weekend is revealed for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
Formula 1

2024 Australian Grand Prix – What the Team Principals are Saying after the Race

7 Mins read
The ten Team Principals reflect on drivers performances at Albert Park during Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, a race that saw Ferrari claim their first win of 2024.
Formula 1

2024 Australian Grand Prix – What the Drivers are Saying after the Race – Part 2

7 Mins read
Those who missed out on points in Australia reflect on their races, including Max Verstappen, who retired from a Grand Prix for the first time since the same event in 2022.