Mercedes enjoyed a massive advantage over the field in the opening practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton swapped positions on multiple occasions, even setting the exact same time at one stage before it was the world champion who finished ahead.
The Briton posted a 1m12.767s on the Medium compound tyre, just under 0.15s clear of his Finnish teammate.
Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen would be the only drivers within a second in third and fourth as the Silver Arrows sent a strong message to start the weekend.
Sebastian Vettel had traffic problems on his best lap to fifth and – on the incredibly dusty Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – would follow up by spinning later in his run at the hairpin
Kimi Raikkonen would just be 0.04s behind his former teammate in sixth for Alfa Romeo, leading the midfield in the process.
But there was trouble for teammate Antonio Giovinazzi as he spun into the wall on the exit of Turn 9, causing a Virtual Safety Car.
In all, five different teams filled positions 6-10 as Carlos Sainz took seventh ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Renault.
Sergio Perez, a former podium scorer in Canada back in 2012, was ninth with Kevin Magnussen completing the top 10 for Haas.
Down the field, Pierre Gasly made a slow start to the weekend in 13th for Red Bull, as did the two Toro Rosso’s with Alex Albon 16th and Daniil Kvyat 18th.
Local favourite Lance Stroll also disappointed in 17th. But another Canadian, Nicholas Latifi, had a solid session for Williams, finishing just 0.2s behind George Russell as he filled in for Robert Kubica.
Full results from Practice 1 can be seen below:
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 31 1:12.767
- Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 25 1:12.914 0.147
- Charles Leclerc Ferrari 24 1:13.720 0.953
- Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 26 1:13.755 0.988
- Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 28 1:13.905 1.138
- Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 30 1:13.945 1.178
- Carlos Sainz McLaren 34 1:13.973 1.206
- Daniel Ricciardo Renault 31 1:14.123 1.356
- Sergio Perez Racing Point 31 1:14.172 1.405
- Kevin Magnussen Haas 32 1:14.202 1.435
- Lando Norris McLaren 33 1:14.246 1.479
- Nico Hulkenberg Renault 30 1:14.474 1.707
- Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing 27 1:14.570 1.803
- Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 17 1:14.582 1.815
- Romain Grosjean Haas 31 1:14.645 1.878
- Alex Albon Toro Rosso 36 1:14.703 1.936
- Lance Stroll Racing Point 32 1:14.812 2.045
- Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 32 1:15.343 2.576
- George Russell Williams 29 1:15.989 3.222
- Nicholas Latifi Williams 33 1:16.199 3.432
