The opening practice session in Montreal started with a small incident as Franco Colapinto spun at Turn 2 early on. It was his first experience on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but luckily he didn’t damage the car and was able to continue.

Max Verstappen set the early pace despite saying his steering felt quite heavy. He used the softest C6 tyres to go to the top of the timesheets with a strong lap. Lance Stroll returned for the home race after missing the Spanish Grand Prix because of hand and wrist pain.

Kimi Antonelli had some difficulty with rear-wheel locking, which caused him to run wide. Lando Norris dealt with a similar issue at the hairpin. That same part of the track also saw Gabriel Bortoleto getting frustrated after getting stuck behind slower-moving cars, specifically Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon.

After the first quarter of the session, Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari in first place with a time of 1:13.885, just a little quicker than George Russell in the Mercedes. But Leclerc’s session ended suddenly when he made a mistake at Turn 4. He misjudged the chicane, hit the wall, and badly damaged the left side of his car, which caused a red flag and stopped the session.

Once the track was cleared, the drivers had just under 40 minutes to continue. Leclerc didn’t return, and Verstappen quickly improved on the Monegasque’s earlier time. He later gained even more time, while Lewis Hamilton was unhappy about Verstappen not leaving enough space at the hairpin.

Elsewhere, Albon surprised Fernando Alonso by moving off the racing line at Turn 2, which forced the Aston Martin driver to react quickly. Oscar Piastri, sitting down in sixteenth place, was asking for a clear lap with just over ten minutes to go. Lando Norris once again came close to the wall at the hairpin but managed to avoid it.

When the session ended, Max Verstappen finished first overall. It was a strong result for Williams, with Alexander Albon taking second place and Carlos Sainz coming in third. George Russell followed in fourth for Mercedes, while Lewis Hamilton placed fifth for Ferrari. Sixth was Isack Hadjar for Racing Bulls, just ahead of Lando Norris in seventh for McLaren. Liam Lawson secured eighth place for the Racing Bulls team. Pierre Gasly was ninth for Alpine, and despite his crash earlier in the session, Charles Leclerc ended up in tenth for Ferrari.