Mercedes looks to be in great shape around a fairly cool Montreal. Just as was the case last year. For reasons no one quite understands, the Mercedes is good at generating tyre temperatures whenever that’s a difficult thing to achieve for everyone else. See also Vegas last year.
When conditions come to it, it’s super-fast. Montreal provided those conditions and George Russell was fastest in both the single lap and long runs, with team-mate Kimi Antonelli third in the headline times and fourth-fastest over a race stint simulation.
Both Russell and Antonelli set their fast single laps on the medium C5 tyre, which is proving easier to balance and not much slower than the C6 on which most others set their best times.
FP2 long run averages
1) Russell 1m 16.506s (13 laps)
2) Verstappen 1m 16.613s (7 laps)
3) Piastri 1m 16.615s (8 laps)
4) Antonelli 1m 16.705s (13 laps)
5) Norris 1m 16.764s (11 laps)
6) Albon 1m 16.869s (8 laps)
7) Sainz 1m 17.070s (10 laps)
8) Hamilton 1m 17.164s (10 laps)
All on C5 tyres
Antonelli ran the newer Imola-spec rear suspension through both practice sessions, while Russell switched to it for FP2. Difficulties at Imola convinced the team to revert to the old spec at Monaco and Spain but in retrospect it looks as if the Imola difficulties were related to a wrong set-up. Here, the new layout seemed to be offering the upgrade which the simulations had promised.
“A very positive day,” said Russell. “We had higher expectations coming to this weekend because cooler conditions, the track’s quite smooth so the tyres naturally run quite cold and we know our weakness. When it’s hot, we struggle and when it’s cold the tyres run cold, we’re pretty competitive. There was definitely validation today.
"The lap was really strong, probably optimised, nothing more in the tank. We had it all on the table full beans, power and everything, let’s see what tomorrow brings.
“A number of teams are thinking about the medium tyre. Come qualifying, do you go on the soft or the medium? That’s one of the challenges when we have the C6 compound.”
What about the rest?
Take the cool-loving Mercedes out of the equation and the competitive picture has McLaren and Red Bull very evenly matched. Disregard Verstappen’s lowly position in the headline times. His best lap was set five laps into a run on a set of the medium C5s. Despite his FP2 complaints of the rear bouncing, Verstappen’s long run average was almost identical to that of Oscar Piastri over a similar number of laps.
Lando Norris was a couple of tenths off but on a run four laps longer than that of Verstappen, making them much the same when allowance is made for that.
“Today was alright,” said an upbeat Verstappen. “In FP1 we felt quite happy in the car, but FP2 was a bit more difficult for other reasons. There was a bit less balance and we felt a bit less comfortable in the car, which we need to investigate, but overall I think it was quite a positive day for us. If we can get it back to what it felt in FP1 we will go well.
"Tomorrow for qualifying, let’s see. There is still one more session to get it right, we just need to get it in a good window and we can see how far we can get in qualifying."
The new McLaren front wing was used as a test item only for a few laps in FP1 but is not intended for this track. The new front suspension geometry, designed to enhance the feedback to steering and brakes, was used by Norris.
The characteristics of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve suit the Williams and, although its headline times appear to be flattered by fuel load and/or power unit mode, the long runs times show them to be within around 0.3s of the frontrunners.
Ferrari’s day took a serious downward turn with Charles Leclerc’s chassis-damaging FP1 accident, which precluded any further Friday running for him. Lewis Hamilton took up the workload.
He was around 0.5s off over a single lap but was putting together a very promising-looking long run before it became clear that the tyres couldn’t withstand that pace. Overheating rears and graining fronts are the standard limitation for everyone here - and he ended up suffering both on his 10-lap run.
