F1 – Alonso quickest in damp second practice in Montréal as Verstappen halted by mechanical issue

With rain incoming, a queue formed at the end of the pit exit ahead of the start of the session and when the green light was lit, championship leader Max Verstappen led a stream of cars on track. 

George Russell was quickly on the radio, however, to report that train was beginning to fall, while Carlos Sainz, on Medium tyres, reported that the track conditions were not suitable for the slick compound he was running.

The light rain then led to the track being abandoned by all but Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, with Hamilton posting a lap of 1:34.810 to go top. 

After the track was declared wet but Gasly defied that ruling by posting a lap of 1:29.007 on Soft tyres to go 5.8s quicker than Hamilton. 

The French driver then improved to 1:24.389, before Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso posted a 1:20.599 to go top from RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who logged a time of 1:20.704. 

Fifteen minutes into the session, Verstappen headed back to the pits with smoke coming from the rear of his car. As he jumped from the car his mechanics stepped back in case it was an electrical issue before swarming over the RB20 to fix the issue. There was no easy fix, however, and as his crew began to work on what turned out to be an ERS issue, the Red Bull driver would bowed out of the session. 

On track the times were falling fast and Alonso soon worked his way down to 1:15.810 seven-tenths ahead of Leclerc who set his best time on Medium tyres. Mercedes’ George Russell then jumped to P2, 0.4s off Alonso, and local hero Lance Stroll then took third ahead of Leclerc a little over six tenths off the P1 time. However, as the halfway mark arrived, the rain returned and within moments the track fell silent as all drivers returned to the pit lane. 

With 19 minutes left in the session, Esteban Ocon broke the quiet by taking his Alpine out on Intermediate tyres and he was quickly joined by joined by Alonso, Stroll and Norris. But while the track began to steadily dry, to the point that a crossover point was almost reached, the field stayed on the green-banded tyres to the end of the session, leaving Alonso in charge at the top of the order thanks to his earlier slick tyres best. 

Russell finished second ahead of Stroll and Lecler, with Ricciardo in fifth. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen ended the session in sixth place ahead of Hamilton and the second RB of Yuki Tsunoda. Alex Albon finished in ninth place and the final top 10 position was taken by Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull. 

2024 FIA Canadian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:15.810 25 207.091
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:16.273 0.463 24 205.834
3 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.464 0.654 27 205.320
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.556 0.746 24 205.073
5 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:16.731 0.921 23 204.605
6 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:16.773 0.963 15 204.493
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.908 1.098 27 204.134
8 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:16.951 1.141 22 204.020
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:16.977 1.167 22 203.951
10 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:17.041 1.231 19 203.782
11 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:17.417 1.607 31 202.792
12 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:17.496 1.686 22 202.585
13 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:17.722 1.912 27 201.996
14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:17.817 2.007 21 201.750
15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:17.903 2.093 20 201.527
16 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:19.008 3.198 20 198.708
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:19.087 3.277 17 198.510
18 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:19.311 3.501 4 197.949
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:20.789 4.979 26 194.328
20 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:20.843 5.033 21 194.19