Alonso paces FP1 in Canada

Double World Champion Fernando Alonso led the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg with a lap time of 1:17.238 in the opening practice session in Montreal Friday. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas in the Williams rounded out the top five.

They were plenty of sketchy moments during the session but nothing catastrophic. Lewis Hamilton was among a number of drivers who was forced to use the run-off area at one point or another. Daniel Ricciardo brushed the wall but was able to escape the incident unscathed. The same can not be said for Jules Bianchi and Marussia however.

Jules made contact with the wall at exit of turn four, damaging his right rear wheel and suspension. He was forced to limp back to the pit area. American Alexander Rossi made some laps for Caterham and after a rough start with multiple lock-ups, he eventually got into a rhythm and was laying down laps comparable to teammate Marcus Ericsson.

There was also a harmless spin with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg. Placing sixth in the session was Daniel Ricciardo; then Jenson Button, Kevin Magnussen, Kimi Raikkonen, and Jean-Eric Vergne.

FP2 is coming up later today.

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