Hamilton heads Mercedes 1-2, Red Bull off pace in extended FP2
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After a bizarre CCTV failure wrecked opening practice session and led to the teams doing almost no meaningful running on Friday morning, an extra half an hour was added to FP2. F1 2023 Canadian Grand Prix – Friday Practice ResultsShould Charles Leclerc leave Ferrari?Video of Should Charles Leclerc leave Ferrari?And it was Hamilton, a seven-time winner in Montreal, who ended up just 0.027s quicker than Russell in their upgraded W14 as the first glimpse of this weekend’s pecking order was provided.However, Mercedes’ performance looked to have been aided by track evolution, with Hamilton and Russell completing their soft tyre qualifying simulation runs more than 10 minutes after everyone else. Carlos Sainz was third and 0.126s off the pace, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was over four tenths adrift of his former title rival in the dominant Red Bull RB19 he has used to win five of the seven races so far this year. Valtteri Bottas, who was fastest in the rather meaningless and curtailed FP1, put his Alfa Romeo seventh, ahead of the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez. Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly completed the rest of the top-10 for Aston Martin and Alpine respectively. FP2 was interrupted by two red flag periods, the first of which was caused when Nico Hulkenberg suffered a smoky engine failure in his Haas. Related ‘Can’t read too much into it’ – Mercedes wary despite continued improved form Mercedes still have ‘so much more to do’ to make 2023 F1 car competitiveMinutes after the session resumed and the red flags were flying once more when Esteban Ocon stopped as a precaution with a suspected water leak in his Alpine. All the drivers managed to complete their runs before a heavy downpour hit in the closing stages of the session.
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