Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets in FP1 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve showing that Ferrari have made progress since the last race in Monaco.
Mercedes showed that they had pace in hand setting the second and third fastest times.
Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen were the first cars out on track and were soon followed by the rest of the field.
The only driver change was at Caterham where Alexander Rossi replaced Kamui Kobayashi.
Lewis Hamilton set the early pace ahead of Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso with all drivers opting to use the prime tyres throughout the session.
Jules Bianchi’s session ended early as the Frenchman hit the wall on the exit of turn four.
Hamilton looked set to secure top spot before a fast lap from Fernando Alonso saw the Ferrari driver set a 1:17.238, a tenth ahead of his former teammate.
Sebastian Vettel finished fourth ahead of Valterri Bottas who showed that the Williams had reason to be confident this weekend. A late improvement from Daniel Ricciardo ensured that both Red Bull’s ended up in the top six.
McLaren had a relatively untroubled session, getting through their programme with Jenson Button setting the 7th quickest time.
Felipe Massa had a KERS problem which resulted in the Brazilian only completing seven laps. Alexander Rossi completed 27 laps and was three tenths shy of teammate Marcus Ericsson.
Fernando Alonso may have ended the session top, however second free practice will provide some more answers to whether Ferrari’s pace is genuine.
FP1 Results:
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m17.238s 21 2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m17.254s +0.016s 25 3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m17.384s +0.146s 32 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m18.131s +0.893s 28 5. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m18.361s +1.123s 20 6. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m18.435s +1.197s 26 7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m18.446s +1.208s 33 8. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m18.514s +1.276s 31 9. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m18.578s +1.340s 15 10. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m18.643s +1.405s 14 11. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m18.733s +1.495s 30 12. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m18.959s +1.721s 22 13. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m19.108s +1.870s 24 14. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m19.142s +1.904s 32 15. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m19.177s +1.939s 21 16. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m19.340s +2.102s 37 17. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m19.575s +2.337s 7 18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m19.804s +2.566s 15 19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m20.200s +2.962s 15 20. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m20.844s +3.606s 26 21. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m21.404s +4.166s 33 22. Alexander Rossi Caterham-Renault 1m21.757s +4.519s 27
