The China Mail - Verstappen on top in opening Canadian GP practice after Leclerc crashes

The 27-year-old Dutchman, who has won the last three Canadian races, clocked a fastest lap time in one minute and 13.193 seconds to outpace Alex Albon by 0.039 seconds -- after Charles Leclerc crashed in his Ferrari.

The session was red-flagged and delayed following Leclerc's accident, in which he was unhurt, but it was a grim early blow for the under-scrutiny Ferrari team following a disappointing start to the season.

It was the first time this year that Verstappen has topped a practice session.

As the championship-leading McLarens worked on progression with an update package, Carlos Sainz was third in the second Williams, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari.

Isack Hadjar was sixth for Racing Bulls ahead of Lando Norris in his McLaren, Liam Lawson in the second Racing Bull and Pierre Gasly of Alpine. Leclerc was 10th fastest before his crash.

The session was run in mild conditions on a 'green' and dirty track with Haas marking their 200th race weekend by returning to their original livery and Yuki Tsunoda hoping for a boost in form for his 100th race.

McLaren were one of the few teams to bring upgrades –- front wing and suspension -- to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve where a packed Friday crowd generated plenty of atmosphere.

After an early yellow flag when Franco Colapinto spun on his first flying lap, Hamilton briefly topped the times before Verstappen took control, grumbling as he did so that "my steering wheel feels heavy".

Ten minutes later, Ferrari suffered a serious early blow when Leclerc, who had gone top, went off at Turn Four, his car sliding into the barriers.

"Sorry," said the Monegasque driver. "I'm in the wall. I should have gone straight on."

He was unhurt, but his Ferrari suffered serious front end damage. Amid all the speculation about the team's loss of form and the future of team boss Fred Vasseur, this was not the start they needed.

After an eight-minute red flag break, Russell re-started the action which continued to provide unexpected thrills as drivers grappled with the conditions –- caused mainly by the circuit's lack of use for the rest of the year.

In this period, Russell, Norris and then Hamilton all had twitchy moments or spins before Verstappen, chasing an unprecedented fourth consecutive Canadian win, clocked 1:13.863 to regain the initiative ahead of Leclerc and Russell.

Gradually, the track conditions improved permitting Russell to go top in 1:13.535 while Nico Hulkenberg 'kissed' the 'wall of champions' so faintly it was indiscernible before Sainz and then Verstappen trimmed the top lap time again.

The Dutchman then went so close to the wall that the circuit recorded the gap as -0 cms. Hulkenberg was within 0.4 cms according to the circuit TV graphic -– enough to avoid trouble in a relatively straightforward session on an improving track.

B.Carter--ThChM