Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets during an extended second practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix as racing action really got underway at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after a shortened first session – albeit with two red flags and some latter rain hampering the proceedings.
Due to problems with CCTV equipment around the track, only a handful of laps were completed in FP1, resulting in the hour-long excursion not being able to continue after an early red flag – triggered by the stalling of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
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As a result, the F1 governing body FIA confirmed that FP2 would be extended by half an hour and the planned running time increased from 60 to 90 minutes, with the session starting at 16:30 local time instead of 17:00 as originally planned.
That led to a packed program throughout the pit lane as drivers adjusted to the Montreal venue while teams – many of whom are making updates this weekend – attempted to collect as much data as possible.
With warm conditions but the threat of rain, different running plan approaches were shown in the first third of the session, with some drivers opting for shorter stints and others opting for longer stints, using a mix of soft and medium tire compounds.
In the end it was Hamilton who set the fastest time of 1m13.718s on soft tyres, 0.027s clear of teammate George Russell, while the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc Fernando Alonso’s improved Aston Martin wedged in third to third five.
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However, running in soft shoes was influenced by several factors. Red flags were raised when Nico Hulkenberg came to a halt with smoke from the rear of his Haas and Esteban Ocon was ordered to stop his Alpine over a suspected loss of water pressure in the mid-sector before a rain shower hit the track in the final 10 minutes.
While there were several improvements just before weather conditions worsened, Red Bull had long since shifted their focus to longer runs on medium tyres, with World Champion Max Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez finishing sixth and eighth respectively.
Valtteri Bottas placed his Alfa Romeo between the Red Bulls in seventh place, while Lance Stroll’s other Aston Martin and Gasly’s repaired Alpine rounded out the top 10 positions – the latter surviving a wild slip at Turn 4 as the wind picked up.
Oscar Piastri also experienced drama, late in reaching the Wall of Champions and finishing 11th ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, McLaren teammate Lando Norris, Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo and the AlphaTauris of Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries occupied.
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Alex Albon was 17th as Williams tested a number of new parts on his Williams, while Ocon and Hulkenberg finished 18th and 20th respectively following their aforementioned issues and teammate Logan Sargeant – who was not updating – made the day on finished in 19th place.
Drivers and teams will discuss their modified Friday run throughout the night before returning to the track for the final practice session on Saturday at 12:30pm local time. The all-important qualifying follows at 4:00 p.m.