18:27
Demonstrating his battles with the Red Bull, Verstappen locks up and hops the grass at Turn 8.
Perez in Canada
© XPB Images
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F1 Canada LIVE: Disrupted practice resumes after Albon smash
Live coverage of Friday at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Practice extended after multiple red flag disruptions
- Albon crash causes heavy damage
- Colapinto and Lawson suffer early reliability woes
- Only one practice session will take place ahead of sprint qualifying
The fifth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Canadian Grand Prix.
While the vast majority of teams brought significant upgrade packages to the Miami Grand Prix, Mercedes kept its powder dry, and has brought its first major upgrade to Montreal. With the team having been victorious in all four rounds so far, there is intrigue as to the margin the team will be able to pull with its new parts, especially as the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is usually a strong venue for Mercedes.
McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull will hope to have closed the gap with additional upgrades, although notably smaller, to their own cars.
Max Verstappen has stolen plenty of the limelight, with his exploits at the Nurburgring 24 Hours a key talking point among drivers in the paddock.
Esteban Ocon and Haas have been forced to dismiss suggestions that they could part company imminently, with reports described as b******* by both the driver and team principal Ayao Komatsu having circled during the week, suggesting an argument had taken place between the pair in Miami.
As this is a sprint weekend, there will be just one practice session taking place before sprint qualifying on Friday evening.
Unlike in Miami, where there had been a significant break in the lead-up, the practice session will last just one hour.
2026 Canadian Grand Prix Friday schedule
FP1: 5:30pm BST - 6:30pm BST
Sprint qualifying: 9:30pm BST - 10:14pm BST
22 May 2026
18:26
Verstappen believes he may have a diff issue, with snaps being reported as he changes gear exiting corners.
18:26
With 25 minutes remaining:
- Antonelli
- Russell
- Piastri
- Norris
- Leclerc
- Hamilton
- Lindblad
- Verstappen
- Alonso
- Hadjar
18:25
Gasly is the latest driver to lock up and take a trip across the grass, but Antonelli and Russell are both pushing the limits ever more, getting closer and closer to the barriers.
18:20
A real near-miss there for Norris at the Turn 3-4 chicane, as he locks the rears and takes a trip across the grass. He's up to P7 now, but it's all been a little bit messy for the McLaren driver.
18:17
Perez and Alonso are banking some soft tyre running while most are continuing on the hard options for now.
Verstappen reports that his steering has suddenly got a lot heavier. Maybe that will feel more like a GT car, who knows?
18:15
There looks to be some concern in the Aston Martin garage, with mechanics getting underneath Stroll's car.
18:14
The session will now be extended by a further 15 minutes as a result of the latest delay. If you're struggling to keep up, we're back up to 35 minutes on the clock.
18:13
Green flag...again
Third time lucky, anyone?
18:12
Pit scramble
The session will resume in two minutes, at 13:13 local time, 18:13BST. The field scrambles out of the garages to queue at the end of the pit lane.
18:11
Still no word on when the session will resume, although the track has been declared "clear" in the sector.
18:04
As we did in the previous red flag, let's run down the top 10.
- Piastri
- Hamilton
- Russell
- Antonelli
- Verstappen
- Hadjar
- Leclerc
- Norris
- Albon
- Sainz
18:02
As we said before, this is a sad but not uncommon occurrence in Montreal.
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18:01
Confirmation of the latest edition of Groundhog Day in Montreal. Albon and Williams have paid a heavy price for that one.
18:00
Early rumours are that Albon's crash came as he attempted to avoid some local wildlife. We said the Groundhogs get involved fairly often here!
17:58
Red flag
A huge smash for Albon on the exit of Turn Seven. The left-hand side of his Williams has been destroyed in that one.
17:56
Ocon is less than pleased with his Haas, reporting that it feels like his car is smashing the ground constantly. As per his words, the feel is "awful".
17:56
But now it's a Mercedes 1-2. Using hard tyres, Russell leads the way by 0.337s with a 1m15.414s effort.
17:53
Here we go, Russell moves to the top...but wait, Piastri instantly displaces him with a 1m15.806s.
17:53
But here come the Mercedes drivers up the time sheets, with Russell and Antonelli now third and fourth. Alonso, astonishingly for Aston Martin, is fifth!
17:52
Another moment for Piastri at the final chicane. Given that's happened a few times now, that suggests a brake balance issue.
17:49
Green flag
As the session resumes, the track remains fairly quiet. Among those on the track are Piastri and the Mercedes drivers.
17:48
To make up for lost time due to the red flag, the session will be extended by four minutes.
17:46
Obviously, these early times are hardly representative - for the most part - something that Norris will take solace from down in P17.
17:44
With no action on the track, now seems a good moment to run down the early positions.
- Verstappen
- Hadjar
- Piastri
- Lawson
- Antonelli
- Sainz
- Russell
- Albon
- Leclerc
- Hamilton