Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two in an extended second practice at the Canadian Grand Prix.
After just four minutes of running in Practice 1, an extra half an hour was added to the second Friday session in Montreal.
And teams wasted little time in heading out to test new parts in many cases as well as get to grips with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Ferrari spent the most time on top in the first half an hour with Max Verstappen occasionally popping into P1.
The opening 30 minutes was curtailed by an engine failure for Nico Hulkenberg on the main straight, bringing out the red flag.
There’s a Haas going slowly on the main straight!
Smoke is coming out of Hulkenberg’s car ?#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ANaCO6QryQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 16, 2023
When the session resumed, most drivers put on fresh soft tyres to complete the first low-fuel performance runs of the weekend.
But a water leak for Esteban Ocon would trigger another red flag much to the frustration of the rest.
Once cleared, drivers returned to the track with the two Mercedes’ moving to the top of the timesheet after focusing on long run pace early on.
All eyes then turned to the sky as a storm approached the circuit. Initially, it was just the wind that caused problems before a huge downpour arrived in the final few minutes.
And the rain has arrived! ?️
It’s caught out Oscar Piastri on softs ?
He luckily makes it back into the pits#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/CQhFr5DBmQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 16, 2023
As a result, Hamilton went fastest with a 1m13.718s, just 0.027s faster than teammate George Russell.
Carlos Sainz was third, ahead of Fernando Alonso in fourth in the upgraded Aston Martin.
Charles Leclerc sat fifth in the second Ferrari with Max Verstappen only sixth in the lead Red Bull.
Valtteri Bottas showed strong pace in seventh for Alfa Romeo, as Sergio Perez survived a brush against the wall en route to P8.
Lance Stroll claimed ninth and Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.
11th placed Oscar Piastri was the only driver to tap the infamous Wall of Champions on Friday.
Albon runs wide and Piastri hits the wall!
This extended session of FP2 has certainly been a tricky one for our drivers ?#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/jAIEYh914p
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 16, 2023
Kevin Magnussen was 12th with Lando Norris the last driver within a second of Hamilton in 13th.
Zhou Guanyu claimed 14th followed by the AlphaTauris of Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck De Vries.
Alex Albon was 17th with Ocon, Logan Sargeant and Hulkenberg completing the order.
The full top 10 can be seen below:
Is Mercedes poised to pull a Montreal surprise?#F1 #Formula1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/21LdSGKH6M
— InsideRacing.com (@INSIDERACINGcom) June 16, 2023