F1 leader hits wall at Canadian GP practice
Posted June 10, 2011 12:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL _ Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel slammed his Red Bull car into a wall during practice Friday at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Vettel looked to have locked his brakes as his car hit the padded barrier, known as the Wall of Champions, coming out of the last chicane on the 4.361-kilometre road course. Top drivers including Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill have wrecked at the same spot in years past.
The car’s front edge was damaged and debris was spread across the track, but Vettel looked unhurt as he got out of the car.
Vettel, the 2010 F1 champion, has won five of the first six races this season.
He also crashed in the first practice session at the Turkish Grand Prix and missed the afternoon practice, but came back the following day to claim pole position in qualifying.
Nico Rosberg of the Mercedes GP team posted the fastest lap of the 90-minute practice with a time of one minute 15.591 seconds. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso second-best at 1:16.139 while Schumacher, also of Mercedes GP, was third in 1:16.549.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton of Mclaren Mercedes was sixth-best at 1:16.676. Vettel’s best lap before his crash was 1:18.852.
A second practice session was scheduled later Friday.
