2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton drew first blood during the first free practice session of the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix after clocking the fastest lap time of 1:15.564.
The Briton was just 1 tenths clear of reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull.
Nico Rosberg posted the 3rd fastest time confirming therefore Mercedes’ strong pace and blistering speed on low-downforce tracks; the German was followed by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
Nico Hulkenberg was 6th fastest, ahead Sauber duo Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez in 7th and 8th respectively.
7-time world champion Michael Schumacher – who’s one of the favorites for the win – finished the session in 9th, with Jenson Button completing the top 10.
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.564 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m15.682s + 0.118 3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m15.782s + 0.218 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m15.842s + 0.278 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m15.897s + 0.333 6. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m15.986s + 0.422 7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m16.000s + 0.436 8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m16.249s + 0.685 9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m16.264s + 0.700 10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m16.347s + 0.783 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m16.460s + 0.896 12. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m16.619s + 1.055 13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m16.859s + 1.295 14. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m16.890s + 1.326 15. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m17.014s + 1.450 16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.352s + 1.788 17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.580s + 2.016 18. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m17.935s + 2.371 19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m18.177s + 2.613 20. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m18.182s + 2.618 21. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m18.762s + 3.198 22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m19.354s + 3.790 23. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m20.004s + 4.440 24. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m20.067s + 4.503