F1 Paddock Notebook - Canadian GP Friday

Recapping all of the additional news and notes from practice day for the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Crash.net F1 Editor Luke Smith brings you his paddock notebook.

- All of the Renault-powered drivers made changes to their power units ahead of FP1 in Canada as a result of the part updates brought by the French manufacturer to Canada. Toro Rosso drivers Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly also took new parts thanks to their update, as did the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. The Ferrari customer teams already received their update in Monaco two weeks ago.

- Vettel, Raikkonen, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz Jr., Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have all taken new gearboxes for this race. All are within the regulations, though, meaning there are no penalties to be applied.

- Hartley said it was hard for him to judge just how much of a step forward the Honda update had offered, but stressed that the driveability of the power unit felt excellent.

- One of the biggest casualties of FP2 in Montreal on Friday was a groundhog, who had a run-in with Romain Grosjean in the closing stages of the session. Grosjean reported over the car he had hit an “animal”, with Haas later tweeting a picture of his car’s damaged nose and front wing. Grosjean admitted he was surprised the groundhog wasn’t removed from the track, given it was picked up by the TV cameras.

- Following the success of the visor cam video from Monaco by Toro Rosso, Grosjean was spotted wearing a pair of the glasses for an installation lap in FP1. However, he said they felt uncomfortable to wear inside his helmet.

- Daniel Ricciardo was sidelined by an electrical issue for an hour in FP2 before getting back out on-track later in the session. He claimed it was not related to his power unit, though. Sebastian Vettel also lost track time early on to a problem, but there was no confirmation from Ferrari what exactly it was.

- The Hypersoft tyre’s life was a big talking point through practice on Friday. Pirelli predicts it will last 15 laps in the race, but the teams’ outlook is less rosy, with Force India saying it would have to last 12 laps at an absolute minimum. Qualifying 11th could in fact leave drivers at a good advantage for Sunday with a free choice of tyre.

- Pirelli’s Mario Isola is predicting a two-stop race for those starting in the top 10 on Hypersofts, with a one stop just about doable by going from Ultrasofts to Supersofts. For the front-runners, getting into Q3 on the Ultrasofts will require a buffer of around 1.1 seconds to make the strategy work.

- Renault’s Bob Bell said Nico Hulkenberg’s stoppage in FP1 was the result of a “catastrophic” failure on his gearbox. However, it was only a Friday gearbox, meaning another that is in rotation was due to be fitted anyway tomorrow, so was simply brought forward by one session.

- Stoffel Vandoorne’s touch with the wall in FP2 cut his day short after damaging the suspension on his car, putting it down to being “too ambitious” in his line exiting the chicane. The Belgian was pleased with his pace regardless, saying: “I feel confident we will be in good shape.”

- A couple of the drivers noted how the addition of a third DRS zone for 2018 had prompted a change in setup, with most opting to take more wing and run a higher downforce than they normally would in Canada.

- Nicholas Latifi made his first F1 practice appearance of the year with Force India, having previously featured in the post-Spanish Grand Prix test. The Canadian finished the session 19th, and is due to enjoy some additional practice run-outs this season in his role.