Canada – Free Practice 2: Leclerc and Vettel on top, Hamilton in the wall!
For once, Ferrari succeeded on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and placed ahead of the Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton, who made a mistake at turn number 9, will return to the pit very early and not come out again.
The second free practice session is in complete contrast to the morning of pure control by the Silver Arrows. Ferrari managed to achieve an impressive lap time in the number 16 car driven by Monegasque Charles Leclerc with a time of 1:12.177.
A quick lap earned the young driver the cheers of the Canadian crowd, visibly won over by the Scuderia Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel, just a breath behind his teammate with only a 0.07-second gap, finished in 2nd place. A performance achieved despite the lack of traction of the Italian cars, promising a tight battle for the rest of the weekend.
FP2 CLASSIFICATION
The Ferrari duo finish at the top, with Bottas just behind 👇#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/d5XvOe0UoS
— Formula 1 (@F1) 7 juin 2019
Even if your name is Lewis Hamilton and you have five world championships to your credit, you are not immune to a fatal off-track excursion during free practice.
The Briton, after a failed exit from turn number 9, couldn’t recover his car and crashed head-on into the wall. His incident led to a puncture on his right rear tire, but he still managed to return to the pits. He wouldn’t come back out, marking a premature end for the Mercedes driver, as the mechanics dismantled the entire rear of his car for repairs.
Bottas takes the opportunity to sign immediately, with a time of 1:12.311 which will ultimately place him in 3rd position for the session. The Ferraris, fitted with soft tires, with Leclerc at 1:12.177 under the cheers of the Canadian fans committed to Ferrari’s cause for this weekend.
Hamilton slaps the wall coming out of Turn 9 😱#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/oIoPRZT1ir
— Formula 1 (@F1) 7 juin 2019
At Red Bull, visibly struggling this afternoon, both cars are positioned outside the Top 10. To make matters worse, the two drivers got in each other’s way during a fast lap by Verstappen. The Dutchman, on a quick lap, produced good times in the 1st and 2nd sectors but was hindered in the final corner by his teammate Pierre Gasly, aborting his lap time. In addition to the ruined lap, Verstappen touched the wall, fortunately without significant damage to the car’s suspension.
Under the watchful eyes of boss Jérôme Stoll, the Renaults managed to secure 8th and 9th place, ahead of Red Bull, and positioned themselves between the two cars from the teams Racing Point, McLaren, and Haas.
At Williams, the gap is still just as pronounced with the rest of the field. Kubica, having taken back his seat loaned to Latifi during the morning session, will close the standings with a gap of over 3 seconds.
The full standings of FP2:
FP2 CLASSIFICATION
The Ferrari duo finish at the top, with Bottas just behind 👇#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/d5XvOe0UoS
— Formula 1 (@F1) 7 juin 2019
