McClaren dominate first practice
McLaren continued their Formula One masterclass in first practice for the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal today as Jenson Button hinted at a BAR revival.
McLaren tester Pedro de la Rosa set the fastest time in the opening one-hour session to hold off Toyota counterpart Ricardo Zonta.
The Spaniard’s time of one minute 16.415 seconds was 0.169secs quicker than Zonta’s effort.
Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest to set the quickest time from a race driver and reinforce McLaren’s supremacy at this stage in the season.
The Finn bounced back from his last-lap crash at the Nurburgring to go third today, with Button fourth as he too looked to bounce back from German disappointment.
The BAR-Honda driver was surprisingly off the pace two weeks ago on his return from a two-race ban but he showed an encouraging turn of pace today.
World champion Michael Schumacher was fifth for Ferrari while the other McLaren of Juan Pablo Montoya was sixth.
Scott Speed clocked up the laps on his Formula One debut, putting in a solid display to net 15th.
The American has been drafted in as Red Bull’s third driver in Canada and the United States to fill a gap in his GP2 Series calendar, and he performed creditably to outpace team-mates Christian Klien and David Coulthard, who were 17th and 18th respectively.
Speed was not hindered by engine restrictions which limit race drivers in practice but his performance, on just his third outing in a Red Bull, vindicated team boss Christian Horner’s decision to call him up in place of Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve suffered a disappointing homecoming.
As his situation at Sauber deteriorates, the Canadian needs a strong result on home turf to turn the tide but he offered little hope of points this weekend on his way to 16th place.
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