@LewisHamilton leads @ValtteriBottas in FP1. #F1 #CanadianGP

Lewis Hamilton lead from team-mate Valtteri Bottas as Mercedes dominated the opening practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Hamilton used the C4 yellow-branded medium compounds to post a 1:12.267 benchmark and was 0.147 seconds quicker than team-mate Bottas who set his time on the softs.

The Silver Arrows were almost a second clear from the best Ferrari and Red Bull as Mercedes debuted it’s brand-new spec upgraded engine at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Most of the field ran the yellow-branded mediums on their initial runs whilst Mercedes went straight to the C5 red-branded softs.

This allowed Bottas and Hamilton to switch places at the top of the time-sheets lapping faster as the track continued to evolve.

Bottas set the early pace with a 1:14.160 before improving to a 1:13.495.

Hamilton set the same exact effort as his team-mate before the Finn jumped clear with a 1:13.229.

The final flyer from Hamilton’s initial run was the first time he hit P1 on the timing screens and moved ahead of Bottas setting a 1:13.148.

Bottas quickly snatched the place back with a 1:13.001, which marked the end of the first runs as the initial 45 minutes of the hour and a half long session drew to a close.

The two SIlver Arrows continued from where they left off in their second runs as Bottas posted a 1:12.914, but Hamilton trounced it 0.15 seconds quicker using the harder tyres.

Bottas’ session ended a touch early due to a low fuel pressure problem.

Ferrari and Red Bull avoided using the C5 softer rubber throughout the opening session.

Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari third quickest with a 1:13.720 and ahead of Red Bull’s fourth-placed Max Verstappen by 0.035 seconds.

The other Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel was fifth with the German running wide at turn one before suffering a spin at the hairpin on another flyer.

Vettel’s mistakes were among many as the drivers dealt with the greener, dusty, low-grip track.

In his first practice session for ROKiT Williams Racing, Nicolas Latifi completed a long run while the rest of the field remained in their respective garages in FP1’s early stages as he made errors at the turn eight chicane and hairpin.

Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean suffered a spin at the sixth corner as well as running wide at turn eight, whilst Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon mimicked the same as the former at turn six.

Albon’s Toro Rosso team-mate Daniil Kvyat missed the final chicane while Red Bull Racing’s Pierre Gasly locked up and went wide at turn one.

The only major incident was a spin by Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi at turn eight as the Italian ran deep, clipped the kerb and lost the rear of his C38 racer, whacking the wall with his left rear, which deployed the Virtual Safety Car.

Giovinazzi continues to endure a difficult season, while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had a great morning in a high sixth place.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was seventh and in-front of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo who was eighth, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez who took ninth and Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who rounded out the top ten.

The other McLaren of Lando Norris was 11th and ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg who finished 12th and the aforementioned Gasly taking 13th.

Giovinazzi and Grosjean were 14th and 15th respectively with the two Toro Rosso’s of Albon and Kvyat in 16th and 18th sandwiching Racing Point’s Lance Stroll who was 17th.

The two ROKiT Williams Racing FW42’s of George Russell and Nicolas Latifi bringing up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix Du Canada 2019 Free Practice 1 Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/races/1006/canada/practice-1.html