Canadian Grand Prix: Practice Recap

FP1 began as scheduled but the pit lane exit remained closed for the first 20 minutes of the session as standing water across the track was cleared due to earlier showers. Once open, both Magnussen and Hulkenberg utilized the Cinturato Blue extreme wet tire for an exploratory lap. During their time back in the garage, a red flag was brought out after Zhou Guanyu hit the wall at Turn 5, stopping on track. Magnussen returned on a set of the Green intermediate compound, recording a time of 1:29.052 for P13 on the timesheet. To take the checkered flag, both drivers opted to put the soft compound on, with Hulkenberg setting a 1:32.826 for P14.

Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg kicked off FP2 on the Red soft tire, with rain forecast to intensify throughout the session. It was during this run that both set their fastest times, Magnussen clocking a 1:16.773 for P6, while teammate Hulkenberg saw a lap of 1:17.903 take him to P15. As the rain increased, Hulkenberg chose to trial the intermediates for the first time this weekend for a long run, while Magnussen made the swap for one final lap to close out the day’s running.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team ran a total of 48 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 – 25 from Hulkenberg and 23 from Magnussen.



Nico Hulkenberg:

“There are mixed feelings from different parts of the sessions. Some moments felt good, some moments felt bad, so we’ll be looking into that to understand it. It didn’t feel great and we didn’t get into a good rhythm or harmony, so we’ve got some work to do there. It does make it tricky, but you have those weekends sometimes, but it spices things up. Tomorrow is more of the same in terms of weather, so I’m getting ready for an interesting day.”

Kevin Magnussen:

“You never learn enough but I got the chance to go out on both slicks and intermediates. I got a good feeling in the car, on all sets of tires, so that’s positive and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. What we’re taking away from today is the feeling in the car, and the pace that we got in the dry, which looked very positive.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“I think conditions have been very challenging, but I think we’ve got the information we needed. In FP1, Kevin had a good run on the intermediate tire, so that gave us confidence in terms of performance. Again with Kevin in FP2, we had a decent run on the dry tires. Even though they weren’t completely representative conditions, we understand how the car behaves now on the soft tire, so that was good. For the next two days, our biggest challenge is how to manage the mixed conditions from intermediate tires to dry. I think we got that basic information, so considering how difficult the day has been, it’s been a pretty decent day.” 

Today's Data:

Event: Free Practice 1 & 2 for the Canadian Grand Prix – Friday June 7
Location: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal
Layout: 4.361-kilometer (2.710-mile), 14-turn street circuit
FP1 & FP2 Weather: Rain
Drivers: Nico Hulkenberg & Kevin Magnussen

Free Practice 1 (FP1) Rundown:

Magnussen: 13th overall (1:29.052), 8 laps 
Hulkenberg: 14th overall (1:32.826), 5 laps 
Fastest: Lando Norris of McLaren (1:24.435)

Free Practice 2 (FP2) Rundown:

Magnussen: 6th overall (1:16.773), 15 laps  
Hulkenberg: 15th overall (1:17.903), 20 laps
Fastest: Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin (1:15.810)