Fernando Alonso topped the times in Montréal with a 1:15.810 during another rain disrupted session. He led from Russell and teammate Stroll.
After a disrupted running in FP1 because of wet track conditions, drivers were eager to get out for some date collection in free practice two. Although the forecast predicts rain across the entire weekend, any data on the intermediate or slick tyres will be vital.
FP1 saw Norris lead from Sainz and Leclerc. However, with such little green flag time, there was no doubt Norris’ time of a 1:24.435 would quickly be beaten in free practice two.
As FP2 began, the clouds were still looming, and the rain began to fall again. Teams didn’t want to risk waiting and missing out on any running, so we saw a queue in the pit lane. The drivers were all on slick tyres despite the drizzle.
While waiting in the pit lane, Russell remarked that the rain was worsening, but this didn’t deter the drivers from heading out on track.
Gauging the track conditions
Sainz, who was out on Mediums, admitted that it was too wet for the slick tyres. Leclerc, still in the garage, heard the call and headed out on the green lined Inters.
Leclerc received a notice on tyre usage. He quickly headed back into the garage. The infraction is because Leclerc went out on wet tyres before the track was declared wet. He will be heading to the stewards after the session.
Pierre Gasly on softs put in the first quick time of a 1:24.389. The consensus was that the track conditions were too wet for slicks and too dry for intermediates.
Gasly went again, putting in a 1:20.789. The dry line was clearer and everyone heading out was on slick tyres. Everyone began putting in times in the early 1:20s.
Fernando Alonso goes out and put in a 1:20.451. The rain was getting harder, but it didn’t deter the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, who broke the 1:20s doing a 1:19.841.
The Aston Martin seemed comfortable in the wet round the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit. They held first and second in the first 20 minutes. Alonso doing a 1:17.835.
With 37 minutes left, Leclerc on mediums does a fastest lap of a 1:16.556.
Verstappen headed into the pits after complaining about the smell of smoke. He jumped out and clear of the car and the engineers quickly got working on the problem.
Drivers were still struggling up and down the grid. There were still a lot of drivers cutting corners or taking runs through the grass. Albon narrowly avoids the Wall of Champions.
However, the times were still falling. Alonso went again with a 1:15.810 followed by Russell and Stroll.
The Second Half of Running
All the cars went back into the pits and with only 27 minutes remaining, it seemed that the best conditions had passed.
Verstappen’s running in FP2 was over. He left the garage, and the engineers began working on the RB20. Luckily, because of the rain, he only lost 10 minutes of running time. The issue was his ERS system.
The time continued to tick down and with 20 minutes to go, Esteban Ocon headed back out on track. The Alpine chose intermediate tyres as the rain continued to fall.
Even with the intermediate tyres, the drivers were still struggling with grip. Esteban Ocon struggled to take a corner. Charles Leclerc lost the back end and spun. Both drivers continued on with the session.
The Final 10 Minutes
The Ferrari’s seemed to be in the way of everyone in FP2. With Hamilton, Albon and Alonso all complaining about the two red cars on track. Luckily for the Prancing horses, it was only free practice, so there will be no reprimand.
With 5 minutes remaining, the dry line rapidly appeared. The times on intermediates were down to the 1:25s, nearing closer to the crossover point for the slick tyres.
Mercedes, despite planning to run their new front wing on both cars in Montréal, has not yet actually tested that wing in Canada. In both free practice sessions, the two Mercedes cars have sported the old wings.
That choice is to help protect the new wings, in case of spins or crashes in the wet. However, it may mean the silver arrows spent their Saturday rebalancing the car.
None of the drivers opted to put on slicks at the end of the session. reaming on intermediates left timing sheets with Alonso on top with a 1:15.810, followed by Russell with 1:16.273 and Stroll with 1:16.464.
The wet running is still unrepresentative of the true pace of most of the teams. Heading into FP3 tomorrow, everything is still all to play for.
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