Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2 in second Canadian GP practice

Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in the extended second Formula 1 practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Key moments

* Session starts half an hour early and is extended by same amount after earlier CCTV problem in FP1

* Ferrari on top at first, but Mercedes runs softs later and goes top

* Hulkenberg and Ocon cause red flags

* Rain hits in final minutes

The CCTV problem that had meant practice one effectively ended after just four minutes of running was resolved just in time for the revised practice two to begin as planned half an early earlier than the original schedule.

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With rain threatening, teams hurried out and mostly started qualifying simulations earlier than usual, with Ferrari mostly fastest in that section.

But Mercedes started off with long runs on medium tyres before Hamilton and George Russell took softs much later than their peers.

That helped them to first and second places, Hamilton 0.027s ahead of his team-mate and 0.126s ahead of best Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in third place.

Fernando Alonso followed a similar schedule to the Mercedes drivers and moved up to fourth for Aston Martin late on.

World champion Max Verstappen was sixth behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, two places ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.

Valtteri Bottas had officially set the practice one pace in the few minutes of running that took place, and he proved that wasn’t just a fluke with seventh for Alfa Romeo in the session that actually happened.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Ocon is stopped out on track! #CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/9RAubgPBzW

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 16, 2023

Alpine had caused the initial red flag in FP1 due to a problem on the spare steering wheel Pierre Gasly was checking on his first run, and it triggered a stoppage in FP2 too as Esteban Ocon had to park with a suspected water leak.

That interruption came just after Nico Hulkenberg had caused another red flag with what appeared to be an engine failure on his Haas-Ferrari as he came out of the final chicane.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

The session has been red-flagged

Hulkenberg is out of the car as the marshals extinguish the flames and smoke#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/w5Y5fu0MZW

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 16, 2023

The clouds had got ever darker through the session and the rain – more of which is expected on Saturday – arrived in the closing minutes, first as subtle drizzle and then as an absolute downpour.

Lance goes straight on 😳

It's looking awfully wet out there! 🌧️#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/baxuewskjR

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 16, 2023

The revised wall/run-off arrangement at Turns 1 and 2 caused some initial headaches, with multiple cars going off there and having to take awkward routes back across the grass onto the track.

Albon runs wide and Piastri hits the wall!

This extended session of FP2 has certainly been a tricky one for our drivers 😅#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/jAIEYh914p

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 16, 2023

Practice 2 Results