Montreal, 11 June

Look at the layout of Montreal’s Gilles Villeneuve circuit on paper and it looks quite straightforward, but in the flesh, it is an altogether more challenging proposition, which is why the first three hours of free practice were incredibly busy today, not just for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, but for every team down the pit lane. A combination of low downforce requirement, heavy braking and the need for good traction out of the slower corners are all key ingredients to the mix that the engineers study to put together the best possible set-up. The drivers have to deal with all of this, plus the ever present challenge of driving a narrow circuit where the safety walls are often as close as in Monaco. Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso took turns, morning and afternoon respectively, to evaluate two types of rear wing, while also studying brakes and the more usual tyre comparison. Possibly because much of the track has been resurfaced since Formula 1 last visited Canada in 2008, all drivers discovered that the tyres were degrading more than expected, but adding to the fascination of this circuit, it is also a fact that the track surface changes drastically from one day to the next.

The overall result for the Scuderia was encouraging, or at least more promising than at the last race in Istanbul, as Fernando Alonso ended the day second fastest behind the Red Bull car of Sebastian Vettel, while Felipe Massa was fifth. Third quickest was the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, followed by the second Red Bull of Mark Webber, while Adrian Sutil completed the top six for Force India. After a wet Thursday, the clouds looked threatening in the morning, but both sessions were dry throughout and the forecast for tomorrow is for more sunshine and higher temperatures.