Kimi Antonelli tops Canada practice as Alex Albon crashes into groundhog
Kimi Antonelli led George Russell in a Mercedes one-two during a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix practice session that was heavily disrupted when Alex Albon collided with a groundhog.
The Williams driver suffered a severe crash after being unable to avoid the animal on the exit of Turn Seven.
The British-born Thai racer slid down the barriers along the following straight, resulting in extensive damage to his vehicle.
Multiple red flags disrupt running
Albon’s incident triggered the second of three red flags during a chaotic opening session in Montreal.
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson caused the initial stoppage when his car halted on track with a complete loss of steering.
A final interruption occurred late on when Esteban Ocon spun his Haas exiting Turn Four and made heavy contact with the wall.
Despite the disjointed running, the early championship leader remained entirely unphased to set the benchmark time.
Upgraded Mercedes shows formidable pace
The young Italian phenomenon, who already boasts three victories this season, edged his more experienced team-mate by 0.142 seconds.
Russell required multiple attempts to close the gap before harmlessly tapping the wall at the start of a third flying lap.
A substantial upgrade package brought by the Silver Arrows appears to have delivered an immediate and devastating performance advantage.
Lewis Hamilton emerged as the closest challenger in the Ferrari, yet the seven-time world champion remained a distant 0.774 seconds adrift.
The former Mercedes stalwart managed to outpace his current team-mate Charles Leclerc by just under two-tenths of a second.
Norris trails as sprint weekend begins
Max Verstappen secured fifth place for Red Bull, finishing nearly a full second behind the blistering pace of the leading duo.
The Dutchman finished just ahead of the McLaren pairing, with reigning world champion Lando Norris leading Oscar Piastri in sixth.
The Woking-based squad are debuting the second half of a major development package that previously helped their British star secure a sprint victory in Miami.
Teams will have limited time to refine their setups ahead of Friday evening’s sprint qualifying session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Elsewhere, Arvid Lindblad impressed to take eighth for Racing Bulls, finishing ahead of Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.