Canadian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Promising signs for Mercedes

It’s not for an hour but for an hour and a half that the cars were going to hit the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. The reason? An issue with the security cameras prevented the favorable conditions for the smooth running of FP1. To make up for this lack of track time, the FIA moved up FP2 to offer the teams an extra 30 minutes of running. Therefore, it came as no surprise that all the drivers came out of their garages as soon as possible.

The episode of the faulty surveillance cameras was a saving grace for Pierre Gasly. The Alpine driver had to stop on the track after only 5 minutes of the session due to mechanical problems. Initially announced as a transmission issue, it was later revealed that the problem simply came from the steering wheel. Ultimately, as the session never resumed, the former AlphaTauri driver didn’t lose any track time compared to his competitors. He made a grand return in FP2 by momentarily setting the fastest lap on the track. The Frenchman recorded a time of 1’15’224 on medium tires. These Canadian free practice sessions were important for the Alpine team, as they were testing numerous new parts. These improvements notably focused on the rear wing, elements on the rear suspension, and the front brakes.

A waltz of red flags

With one hour remaining, the Canadian sky began to be obscured by a strange smoke. It was not caused by distant fires but by Nico Hülkenberg’s engine. The German’s Haas was immobilized on the track, and the race directors called for a red flag to extract the car to a safe location. The session was neutralized for a second time following the stop of an Alpine car at the exit of the ninth turn. This time, the fault was on Esteban Ocon’s car and not Pierre Gasly’s.

The arms race

Surprisingly, the first hour of these FP2s was dominated by the Ferrari team. Being the only team to have not made any improvements this weekend, seeing Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc occupying the top two positions on the time sheet was a pleasant surprise for the red team. With a lap time of 1’13’844, the Spaniard put his teammate half a second behind. Not having done any qualifying runs on the soft tires, it was not Max Verstappen who was going to dislodge the Scuderia from the top of the standings, but Mercedes. Relatively quiet since the start of FP2, Lewis Hamilton set a time of 1’13’718 to take the first position. His teammate George Russell established a time only 27 milliseconds slower.

These 90 minutes of session were a blessing for Aston Martin, who had a lot of improvements to test. The Spanish Grand Prix had seen Fernando Alonso completely unable to fight for the podium. A performance that had set off alarm bells and motivated the team to push even harder in the development race. Continuing to arm themselves to the teeth was all the more crucial as Mercedes seems to have regained some color by bringing their new concept to Monaco. The testing of these new parts was proven by the application of fluorescent paint on the entire right side of the local hero Lance Stroll’s car.

At the end of the session, the wind picked up suddenly, causing pollen to fly around above the asphalt of the circuit. A few minutes later, nature continued to play its tricks by unleashing a torrential downpour on the last sector of the track. Nostalgic for the British weather, Lando Norris was the only driver to stay on track and brave the conditions. This little wet escapade was short-lived, and the McLaren driver returned to seek shelter in his garage at the end of his lap.

So it’s Lewis Hamilton, the driver with the most victories in Montreal (tied with Michael Schumacher), who finishes these FP2 as the fastest driver. With George Russell in second position, Mercedes is the team to watch for the rest of the weekend.