» 2012 Canadian GP: Hamilton tops first practice

Lewis Hamilton has set his sights on becoming the 2012 season’s seventh different winner in as many races by posting the quickest lap-time in the opening practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver headed the timesheets from defending champion Sebastian Vettel and his compatriot Nico Rosberg in a busy session where the ten fastest runners were covered by less than eight-tenths of a second.

With many fearing that wet weather could hit the circuit later in the day, teams busied themselves with a multitude of programs in the opening ninety-minute session, which included runs on both Pirelli’s soft and super-soft dry-weather compounds on offer this weekend.

But the session wasn’t rosy for everyone. Jenson Button found himself sidelined for much of the session with a slipping clutch in his McLaren – he would ultimately log just a dozen laps en route to tenth-fastest – while Heikki Kovalainen ensured his Caterham mechanics would be missing lunch when he slammed his car into the wall during the session.

The Finn slide sideways into the concrete at Turn 9, with the impact and resultant debris proving enough to bring out the red flags so the mess could be cleaned up.

With the semi-street circuit proving predictably slippery, a host of drivers enjoyed trips through the run-off areas during the session.

The session also featured a few track invasions from the local wildlife. Most will know that the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve has a resident groundhog population, but the track was also visited by a fox and a squirrel.

Kovalainen brought out the red flags for thirteen minutes after hitting the Turn 9 wall (above left); Senna was almost hit by Vettel when the German tried to get some clear track (above right).

Another talking point was the near-collision between Sebastian Vettel and Bruno Senna late in the session, which saw Vettel deliberately cut across the final chicane in order to start a flying lap with a clear track in front of him. The pair made contact in the incident, and a furious Senna was none-too-happy with the German’s antics.

Up at the sharp end of the field, Fernando Alonso finished up fourth-fastest in his Ferrari, taking the opportunity to try out a new exhaust configuration.

With his Red Bull RB8 running a newly-modified (and now legal) floor, Mark Webber was fifth-quickest, ahead of Nico Hülkenberg’s Force India, the Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez, Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher and the clutch-less Button.

Paul di Resta and Felipe Massa finished just outside the top-ten, while Pastor Maldonado was thirteenth-fastest in his Williams, which sported a radically-curved rear wing.

The two Lotus entries of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Räikkönen were well down the order, although it would appear both were evaluating race set-ups judging by the number of laps each driver turned out during the session. They ended the session ahead of both Toro Rosso drivers, who were fractionally faster than the Caterhams of Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen.

Pedro de la Rosa finished a promising 20th-fastest in his HRT, despite running over one of his mechanics during a visit into his pit entry. The mechanic was fortunate to escape with little more than bruising after being checked by circuit medical officials.

2012 Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Session Times:

	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:15.564		30
2.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:15.682	+ 0.118	29
3.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:15.782	+ 0.218	30
4.	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:15.842	+ 0.278	34
5.	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:15.897	+ 0.333	28
6.	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:15.986	+ 0.422	29
7.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:16.000	+ 0.436	31
8.	Sergio Pérez	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:16.249	+ 0.685	32
9.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:16.264	+ 0.700	28
10.	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:16.347	+ 0.783	12
11.	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:16.460	+ 0.896	32
12.	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:16.619	+ 1.055	17
13.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault FW34	1:16.859	+ 1.295	26
14.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:16.890	+ 1.326	36
15.	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:17.014	+ 1.450	42
16.	Jean-Éric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:17.352	+ 1.788	28
17.	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:17.580	+ 2.016	31
18.	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham Renault CT01	1:17.935	+ 2.371	23
19.	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham Renault CT01	1:18.177	+ 2.613	16
20.	Pedro de la Rosa	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:18.182	+ 2.618	26
21.	Bruno Senna	Williams Renault FW34	1:18.762	+ 3.198	36
22.	Narain Karthikeyan	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:19.354	+ 3.790	23
23.	Timo Glock	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:20.004	+ 4.440	21
24.	Charles Pic	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:20.067	+ 4.503	23