MONTREAL — Ferrari's former world champion Fernando Alonso upstaged the mighty Mercedes team by setting the pace in first practice for the Canadian Grand Prix Friday. Alonso, a winner on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2006 and runner-up to world champion Sebastian Vettel last year, lapped the island track with a best time of one minute 17.238 seconds on an overcast morning on the banks of the St. Lawrence river. Right behind the Spaniard were the Mercedes due of Lewis Hamilton, a three-time winner in Canada, and his teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg. The Briton and German arrived in Canada downplaying a spat between the teammates that had dominated talk up and down the paddock but on the track their rivalry remained firmly in place. Hamilton, who had his four-race win streak snapped by Rosberg in Monaco, was just 0.016 behind Alonso followed closely by Rosberg. With six wins from six races Mercedes have ruled the Formula One grid and are expected to continue their domination on a Montreal circuit that plays to the car's strengths with high- speed straights. Red Bull continued to improve with Vettel fourth on the timesheets ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull. McLaren's Jenson Button, who claimed victory in a rain- soaked 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, was seventh best followed by team mate Kevin Magnussen. ‘We are friends' Appearing at a routine pre-race news conference, Hamilton made light of suggestions that the relationship with teammate Rosberg was damaged and stressed that they were friends ‘just as they always had been'. Looking calm and relaxed, Hamilton said they had cleared the air in talks after the Monaco Grand Prix. “Me and Nico spoke, with the team and individually,” he said, adding that their apparent fallout in Monte Carlo was “no different to others we have had in many years of racing together.” Hamilton had suggested that Rosberg had deliberately left the track, prompting yellow flags, during the final minutes of qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix. The incident meant 28-year-old German Rosberg started the race from pole position, after a brief stewards' inquiry had cleared him of any wrong-doing. But Hamilton simmered with resentment throughout the weekend and suggested their friendship was over. On Thursday, however, Hamilton insisted that there are no lingering tensions with Rosberg as they resume battle at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. “We spoke after the race and, like friends, we have ups and downs,” said Hamilton, who trails Rosberg by four points in the title race. “We have known each other for a long time and it is done and dusted. “We look forward to working together to help the team win the constructors' championship.” Mercedes held a team dinner in Montreal Wednesday when both drivers attended. — Agencies
