F1 Canadian GP: George Russell leads Lando Norris at the top in FP2

Mercedes driver George Russell topped second practice at Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. 

Russell went top after 23 minutes with a lap on Pirelli’s medium tyres to set up an intriguing tyre choice for qualifying, with Norris unable to beat the Mercedes driver’s time on softs. 

After six minutes of running, Lance Stroll suffered terminal damage to the front-left corner of his Aston Martin after he tapped the outside wall at Turn 7, forcing him to park his car at the hairpin. It’s the latest setback for the Canadian, who is making a return to F1 in front of his home crowd after sitting out the Spanish GP with hand pain.  

Russell then led the early running with a 1m12.887s and then a 1m12.602s on softs, but it was his medium tyre lap of 1m12.123s, which ended up staying on top until end. The performance of the medium tire could set up another tyre choice headache for qualifying ahead of Sundays grand prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. 

With 26 minutes to go, Norris finally found a clear lap to set a time 0.028s slower than Russell. This means it’s not yet certain whether the C6 soft or C5 medium offers the best way to perform over one lap, as was the case in Imola. 

Russell’s rookie team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli was third on soft tyres ahead of Williams driver Alex Albon, who confirmed his team’s strong start to the weekend on a circuit that should suit the Williams FW47. Fernando Alonso was fifth-fastest in the sole remaining Aston Martin, with his encouraging lap drawing applause from his mechanics in the garage. 

Championship leader Oscar Piastri only managed sixth, four tenths in arrears, followed by the second Williams of Sainz. Lewis Hamilton claimed eighth as the only Ferrari in action in FP2, as team-mate Charles Leclerc was forced to sit out the session due to a chassis change, the result of his crash in first practice. Leclerc clattered the wall at Turn 6 after 15 minutes on Friday morning, destroying his Ferrari’s left-front corner and damaging his chassis in the process. 

It was also a subdued session for Max Verstappen, who looked set to finish outside the top 10 until a last-ditch effort on mediums that took him up to ninth. The reigning world champion, who topped FP1, reported that his Red Bull was feeling “more nervous” than in first practice and also struggled to slow the car down on cold brakes, as one of several drivers to bypass the final chicane. 

Verstappen’s late effort bumped Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson out of the top 10, with the New Zealander narrowly ahead of his team-mate Isack Hadjar after both drivers got frustrated by traffic issues around the Montreal circuit. 

F1 Canadian GP results – FP2

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Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	G. RussellMercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	33	1’12.123		M	217.678
2	L. NorrisMcLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	32	+0.028 1’12.151	0.028	S	217.593
3	A. AntonelliMercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	33	+0.288 1’12.411	0.260	S	216.812
4	A. AlbonWilliams	23		Williams	Mercedes	36	+0.322 1’12.445	0.034	M	216.710
5	F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	31	+0.335 1’12.458	0.013	S	216.671
6	O. PiastriMcLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	32	+0.439 1’12.562	0.104	S	216.361
7	C. SainzWilliams	55		Williams	Mercedes	37	+0.508 1’12.631	0.069	S	216.155
8	L. HamiltonFerrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	34	+0.530 1’12.653	0.022	S	216.090
9	M. VerstappenRed Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	31	+0.543 1’12.666	0.013	M	216.051
10	L. LawsonRacing Bulls	30		RB	Honda	30	+0.628 1’12.751	0.085	S	215.799
11	I. HadjarRacing Bulls	6		RB	Honda	31	+0.676 1’12.799	0.048	S	215.656
12	P. GaslyAlpine	10		Alpine	Renault	34	+0.751 1’12.874	0.075	S	215.434
13	G. BortoletoSauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	32	+0.773 1’12.896	0.022	S	215.369
14	N. HulkenbergSauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	33	+0.791 1’12.914	0.018	S	215.316
15	Y. TsunodaRed Bull Racing	22		Red Bull	Red Bull	35	+0.816 1’12.939	0.025	S	215.242
16	O. BearmanHaas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	36	+0.957 1’13.080	0.141	S	214.827
17	E. OconHaas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	33	+1.052 1’13.175	0.095	S	214.548
18	F. ColapintoAlpine	43		Alpine	Renault	33	+1.775 1’13.898	0.723	S	212.449
19	L. StrollAston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	2
20	C. LeclercFerrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	0
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