Hamilton and Russell ended FP2 with the fastest time, while Ferrari made a good impression on race pace.
The strange Friday of FP2 ended with the checkered flag Canadian GPeighth round of the 2023 season of F1. In this free practice session, the duration of which was extended by 30 minutes following problems with the CCTV cameras which prevented the cars from taking to the track in the FP1the best performance was signed by Lewis Hamilton in 1:13.718. The activity on the track was really frenetic right from the first minutes, also considering the concrete threat of the arrival of rain, but after half an hour the red flags began to fly. The first was caused by Haas Of Nico HulkenbergThat stopped on the finish line due to a worrying breakage Power Unit Ferrariwhile the second from Alpine Of Esteban Oconalso the victim of a technical problem a few minutes after shooting.
In the last ten minutes a torrential rain arrived which transformed the circuit into a lake, even if the teams still obtained important data on both the flying lap and the race pace. The best in the qualifying simulation were the two from Mercedeswho however achieved the time long after all others and thus with a track more evolved. The Brackley team carried out a very different work plan from the others, opting for the race pace at the start of the session. Like everyone else, Stella also decided to ride in the wet at the end to have an extra set of intermediate on tomorrow’s day, which promises to be wet. Third la Ferrari Of Carlos Sainzat +0.126″ from the leader, but protagonist as well Charles Leclerc (fifth at +0.376″) of an interesting long stint on medium tire in preparation for the race.
The two cars from Maranello are spaced out by Alonso, with one Aston Martin less impressive than expected on this Friday. The two Red Bull, imperfect in the flying lap simulation, are sixth and eighth, even if Verstappen confirmed to be the favorite on the pace in race conditions. Bottas seventh, who risked an accident while lapping in torrential rain, while Stroll and Gasly close the top ten, also the protagonist of an interesting long run. Piastri opens the second half of the standings, the first to kiss the Wall of Champions, followed by Magnussen and Norris. Behind him Zhou, the AlphaTauri and Albon, protagonist of a long run in Turn 1-2, while Ocon, Sargeant and Hulkenberg close the standings. The German’s mechanics will have to work a long time to replace the damaged parts of the engine in view of FP3, which will start tomorrow at 18:30 Italian time.
Cover photo: https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1669819089760530433