Charles Leclerc and Ferrari powered to the top of the timesheet in second practice for the Canadian Grand Prix.
As the teams completed their first low-fuel runs of the weekend, the Scuderia unleashed their expected straight line speed with the Monegasque taking top spot on the second flying lap using the Soft compound tyre.
His 1m12.177s put him 0.074s clear of teammate Sebastian Vettel and further tenth clear of Valtteri Bottas in the first Mercedes.
There was drama for Practice 1 leader Lewis Hamilton, however, as the world champion would hit the wall at Turn 9 early on, causing sufficient damage to miss much of the session.
With a tight battle expected with Ferrari and Bottas, the lost time could prove crucial later in the weekend.
Also suffering a setback was Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s qualifying simulation impacted by his own teammate Pierre Gasly.
The Frenchman would impede the Dutchman through the final chicane, with the dirty air causing enough understeer for Max to touch the Wall of Champions on the outside.
All the issues for frontrunners allowed Carlos Sainz to claim fourth for McLaren. Interestingly, the Spaniard was less than four-tenths off the fastest time, indicating there is still plenty of performance yet to come from the top three teams.
Kevin Magnussen was fifth for Haas, with Hamilton’s initial lap time leaving him sixth. The two Racing Points and two Renaults would complete the top 10.
Lando Norris sits ready to pounce for a Q3 position in 11th ahead of the aforementioned Red Bulls after their problems.
Toro Rosso is also continuing to lack pace with Alex Albon and Daniil Kvyat 14th and 15th.
Kimi Raikkonen was 16th for Alfa Romeo, as teammate Antonio Giovinazzi’s day got worse with repairs from his morning crash at Turn 9 continuing until midway through the session.
The Italian would end the day 18th overall with the two Williams behind him.
In the final half hour or so the focus switched to long-run pace and the big story was tyre degradation with many drivers suffering from graining on the two softest compounds.
With temperatures only set to get hotter in Montreal, it will be interesting to see if that results in a two-stop strategy come race day.
Full results from Practice 2 can be seen below:
- Charles Leclerc Ferrari 39 1:12.177
- Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 38 1:12.251 0.074
- Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 46 1:12.311 0.134
- Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 45 1:12.553 0.376
- Kevin Magnussen Haas 41 1:12.935 0.758
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 8 1:12.938 0.761
- Sergio Perez Racing Point 39 1:13.003 0.826
- Daniel Ricciardo Renault 40 1:13.016 0.839
- Nico Hulkenberg Renault 42 1:13.168 0.991
- Lance Stroll Racing Point 37 1:13.171 0.994
- Lando Norris McLaren 38 1:13.249 1.072
- Pierre Gasly Red Bull 38 1:13.345 1.168
- Max Verstappen Red Bull 22 1:13.388 1.211
- Alex Albon Toro Rosso 45 1:13.436 1.259
- Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 40 1:13.521 1.344
- Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 41 1:13.542 1.365
- Romain Grosjean Haas 39 1:13.598 1.421
- Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 16 1:14.870 2.693
- George Russell Williams 36 1:15.036 2.859
- Robert Kubica Williams 44 1:15.287 3.110
