F1 News: Alonso tops Canadian GP FP2 on damp track

Fernando Alonso turned a lap of 1m15.810s on a damp track to top the 2nd practice for the 2024 Canadian GP on slick Pirelli tires.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Alonso did a good job to keep heat in his Aston Martin tires and was able to progressively turn faster laps while others struggled for grip on the 4.363-km Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on the edge of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

George Russell was 2nd quick for Mercedes, 0.463s behind Alonso before the rain started to come down harder.

Hometown Canadian favorite Lance Stroll was 3rd, 0.654s behind

Charles Leclerc was 4th for Ferrari, 0.746s behind, but was called to see the Stewards after the session because he went out on Intermediate tires before the track was declared wet.

Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top-5, 0.921s behind Alonso in his VCARB.

Max Verstappen sat out half the session with an Energy Recovery System issue.

No one has completed any traditional long runs to gain race simulation data, all three tire compounds haven’t been tested and Mercedes haven’t even tried out their new front wing yet.

If FP3 is dry, it is going to be very busy indeed. If it is wet… Qualifying could be even more frantic than usual.

Leclerc is being investigated for a tire usage breach, Norris for failing to follow the race director’s directions, and now Oscar Piastri has been noted for the same thing.

2024 Canadian GP Practice 2 Results