Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished on top of the time sheets in Free Practice 2 on Friday for the Canadian Grand Prix before crashing into the T10 hairpin tyre wall.
The session was truncated after rain started to fall with just a little under an hour into the session. With the threat of rain over the circuit, drivers headed out immediately when the session began. Both Ferrari drivers headed out immediately on the super soft(option) tyres and set the early pace in the session. After starting on the soft tyres(prime) the Mercedes pair then bolted on a set of the options where Lewis Hamilton set a time of 1:15.988 to go fastest. After setting the early pace in the session Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel ended his session in P2 0.316s off Hamilton’s pace with a 1:16.304. Kimi Raikkonen finished the session in P3 with Nico Rosberg in P4, half a second off the pace.
Long runs followed right after the timed laps where the pace between Mercedes and Ferrari looked very close. The new upgrades to the Ferrari engine seems to have brought them slightly closer to Mercedes.
With just a little under an hour in the session the rain started falling at the track. The drivers headed immediately into the pits and it seemed like that was the end of the action for the day. After a short break, Mercedes were the first to pull the trigger and sent their drivers out on intermediate tyres just as the rain started to fall a bit heavier. Hamilton was the first one out and at the Turn 10 hairpin aquaplaned and went straight on into the tyre barrier. The session was red flagged to recover Hamilton’s car.
The track remained quiet until the end of the session as none of the driver were prepared to risk it out on the wet track.
Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado ended his session 5th fastest with Williams’ Valtteri Bottas in 6th. Romain Grosjean in the other Lotus was 7th fastest with a 1::16.864. Felipe Massa finished in 8th just a little over a second off the pace.
Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat had an early end to his session after suffering brake problems. His best time of 1:17.092 earned him 9th fastest for the session with team mate Daniel Ricciardo in 10th.
After heading out on the options early on in the session, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg ended up in P11 ahead of Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson in P12.
Carlos Sainz ended his session in 13th for Toro Rosso but not before complaining about lack of grip from his tyres during the session. Sergio Perez managed P14 with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso finishing 15th fastest.
Max Verstappen in the other Toro Rosso ended his session 1.669s off the pace in 16th with a best time of 1:17.657. Felipe Nasr was 17th fastest ahead of Jenson Button in 18th.
The two Manor cars of Merhi and Stevens finished 19th and 20th respectively.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:15.988 | – | 22 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:16.304 | 0.316s | 19 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:16.310 | 0.322s | 20 |
| 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:16.440 | 0.452s | 22 |
| 5 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:16.600 | 0.612s | 15 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:16.849 | 0.861s | 18 |
| 7 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:16.864 | 0.876s | 15 |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:17.041 | 1.053s | 19 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:17.092 | 1.104s | 10 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:17.111 | 1.123s | 16 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:17.120 | 1.132s | 15 |
| 12 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:17.261 | 1.273s | 17 |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1m17.318s | 1.330s | 23 |
| 14 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:17.367 | 1.379s | 20 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1:17.627 | 1.639s | 21 |
| 16 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:17.657 | 1.669s | 23 |
| 17 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:17.751 | 1.763s | 21 |
| 18 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1:18.135 | 2.147s | 20 |
| 19 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia | 1:19.531 | 3.543s | 15 |
| 20 | Will Stevens | Marussia | 1:19.734 | 3.746s | 13 |
Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team
