Verstappen starts free practice at the front of the Canadian GP

Championship leader Max Verstappen led the timesheet at F1's return to Canada in first practice, ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It is the first time F1 has returned to Montreal since 2019, after the last two races were cancelled due to coronavirus.

The reigning F1 champion led the timesheet, but it was not a completely clean session for Verstappen in Canada. The Red Bull driver complained over the team radio after 30 minutes, before being forced to return to the pitlane.

The Dutchman was back on track just five minutes later and climbed to the top of the timesheet with 1min15s158. This lap time put him just over two-tenths ahead of Carlos Sainz, who was faster than his former Toro Rosso teammate for the first two-thirds of the lap.

Alpine's Fernando Alonso completed the top three on medium tires, in what was another impressive performance for the two-time champion. He was consistently fast in Baku on the straights, so it was no surprise to see the Alpine competitive in Canada, as it is a low air pressure track.

Sergio Perez placed two Red Bulls in the top four, more than four tenths behind his teammate. The Mexican led the pack on the first rounds of medium tires early in the session, but struggled to improve on softer rubber.

Charles Leclerc was fifth in the second Ferrari, but ran a slightly different program than his teammate, using the softs on both laps. George Russell was sixth in the first Mercedes, ahead of home hero Lance Stroll. Lewis Hamilton completed the top eight ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.

It was a closely contested first hour of practice, with just 1s2 separating Verstappen at the top and Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas in 16th. Yuki Tsunoda will start at the back of the grid after putting in a fourth internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K.

According to FIA regulations, all drivers can only use three of the above components. Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi have new components for this weekend, but all escaped grid penalties.

Check out the times: