CANADIAN GP – Lewis Hamilton leads a Mercedes one two in second practice just under three hundredths ahead of George Russell
Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the second practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver set a 15.718 going nearly three hundredths faster than his teammate George Russell. The two Mercedes had nearly a tenth over the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, in a session which was extended to ninety minutes after FP1 was abandoned with technical issues with the tracking system.
During the dry running at the start of the session Sainz had set the pace before Mercedes opted to do their soft tyre run later than most teams. That allowed them to show some of the potential and take advantage of the circuit when the it was grippy before the wet weather washed away the rubber.
Fernando Alonso managed to spilt the two Ferrari’s the Aston Martin driver going two tenths behind Sainz and ahead of Charles Leclerc by five hundredths. Both teams so far this season have been looking evenly matched however it could be starting to look as if Ferrari and Mercedes are starting to move ahead.
Red Bull has dominated all six races this year, but Max Verstappen could only manage sixth five hundredths behind Leclerc. However the Dutchman complained about downshifts, and Sergio Perez was a tenth further behind in eighth. The team opting to do their qualifying sims at the start of the session.
Hamilton said: “It was OK. Probably the bumpiest circuit we have been on for a long time. But bit of a strange day. Missed the first session, felt really bad for all the fans. I love driving this track. It’s mega. The car didn’t feel bad but I think we definitely have some work to do. Not the greatest but not the worst.”
The Dutchman said: “We didn’t have a good day and they had a good day. We know our limitations with the car – probably on a track like it is now with the bumps and kerbs – it definitely doesn’t suit our package for now. We will try to find a few improvements.”
Looking at the comparisons between Ferrari and Red Bull on race runs it looked to be closer than at recent races, Leclerc was less than a tenth behind Verstappen over a ten lap run. Red Bull are yet to be beaten this year, Ferrari will be warry given some of the huge winning margins seen by Red Bull.
Aston Martin meanwhile appeared not to challenge though Alonso was still in the top four three tenths off Hamilton.
The wet weather is set to linger around Montreal all weekend their will be some hope that acts to neuter Red Bulls advantage. If Hamilton did win the race it would be his eighth win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve making him the first driver to have eight wins at two Grands Prix surpassing Michael Schumacher on both records.
That however would require luck and Red Bull failing to win for the first time in 2023.
The reason that FP2 was extended by thirty minutes was FP1 being red flagged because of a technical problem with the track closed-circuit television system, which is part of F1’s safety apparatus. The CCTV problem meant the first session was stopped after only twelve drivers had set just one flying lap and officials decided to extend the second session.
Valtteri Bottas was seventh, the Alfa Romeo driver was seven hundredths behind Verstappen and ahead of Perez by three hundredths. The Finn had to abandon his first timed lap after he ran close to the wall, while the Mexican is looking for a clean weekend as he looks to reignite his championship challenge to his teammate Verstappen.
Lance Stroll was ninth the Canadian seven tenths off the pace and six hundredths ahead of Pierre Gasly rounding out the top ten. Gasly’s stoppage brought FP1 to an end, but Alpine’s woes continued when Esteban Ocon stopped bringing out the red flags with loss of water pressure in his engine.
The other red flag was caused by Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas, which suffered an engine failure on the pit straight.
Oscar Piastri put his McLaren eleventh going a hundredth ahead of Kevin Magunssen as he split the Haas’s, despite brushing the Wall of Champions. Lando Norris was seven hundredths behind Magnussen and ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou.
The two Alpha Tauri’s were fifteenth and sixteenth, Yuki Tsunoda going six hundredths ahead of his teammate Nyck de Vries. Alex Albon was seventeenth ahead of Ocon, who spilt the Williams after going just over three tenths faster than Logan Sargeant. While Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the field.
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