Max Verstappen completed a Friday free practice P1 double as Formula 1 returned to Canada after a two-season absence.
Winner of four of the last five races to build a 21-point lead in the Drivers’ standings, the World Champion got the better of Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in FP2.
Surprisingly, Sergio Perez, one of the in-form men at recent races, was well off his team-mate’s pace, a second down in 11th place as veteran duo Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso continued their encouraging form of FP1.
Alonso was again much quicker than his Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon, while Vettel and his Aston Martin colleague Lance Stroll enjoyed a promising day all round to show they are making good progress with the AMR22. Vettel was only 0.315sec adrift of Verstappen’s time.
For anything but the first time this season, Valtteri Bottas endured problems in a Friday practice session.
Not the easiest start of FP2. 😫
Valtteri is in the garage as the crew investigate a technical issue. On the other side of the garage, Zhou is heading out for another run. #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/ycIzvPQZmj
— Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN (@alfaromeoorlen) June 17, 2022
The Alfa Romeo driver had recently joked with his team boss Fred Vasseur he would start skipping Fridays as they had been going so badly for him. This time, his running was severely limited as he reported “something weird on downshifting” as he was twice called back into the pits with the anti-stall system playing up and was unable to set a time.
Verstappen was told by his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to expect the possibility of a few drops of rain before the end of the session, in advance of a heavier downpour or even thunderstorm afterwards, while his 2021 World Championship rival Lewis Hamilton struggled again and said on team radio his Mercedes W13 was “undriveable” as he ended the session only 13th.
You can read the full report of the session here.
Results: Second Practice (FP2) – 2022 Canadian GP
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.127
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 0.081s
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 0.225s
4 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 0.315s
5 Fernando Alonso Alpine 0.416s
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 0.752s
7 George Russell Mercedes 0.844s
8 Lando Norris McLaren 0.860s
9 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 0.906s
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine 0.992s
11 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1.040s
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1.269s
13 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1.294s
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1.372s
15 Mick Schumacher Haas 1.389s 34
16…
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