F1: Mercedes 1-2 in Practice 2 for the Canadian GP

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Before packed grandstands on a Friday (a work day) Lewis Hamilton turned a lap of 1m13.718s to top the extended Practice 2 session for the Canadian GP in Montreal.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate was 2nd quick with an almost identical time of 1m13.745s. Both Mercedes drivers waited until late in the session to do qualifying sims after the track was rubbered in and while the other drivers were doing race simulations.

“I love driving this track, it’s mega,” said Hamilton!

“From the moment you leave the pitlane you just think “yeah, this is wicked!” It is probably the bumpiest circuit that we’ve been on for a long time, however. I think everyone is struggling with the bumps though.

“Overall, the car didn’t feel bad, but we’ve definitely got some work to do. We’ve just got to improve our ride control and balance through corner, and I think we will be alright.

“The car overall is a step forward from earlier in the season and I do think I’m feeling the improvements that we saw in Monaco and Barcelona. I love the rain so let’s try and have some fun tomorrow!”

Carlos Sainz Jr. was 3rd quick for Ferrari, 0.126s behind.

Fernando Alonso was 4th for Aston Martin and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top-5 in his #16 Ferrari.

Points leader Max Verstappen could only manage 6th best in his Red Bull Honda, 0.424s back.  However, his race simulation pace was very strong and you get the sense he had much more time in hand

The session was extended 30 minutes because Practice 1 was essentially wiped out due to a track technical issue. Late in the session the predicted rain wet the track and no more fast laps were set.

Will it be dry for qualifying Saturday, or will the predicted rain mix up the grid?

Practice 2 Results