Canadian GP FP2: Russell tops, McLaren improve, Verstappen drops

Russell posted a 1:12.123 to go fastest and just 0.028s clear of Lando Norris who was second in the McLaren while Kimi Antonelli was third fastest almost three tenths off the pace.

What was interesting is that Russell posted his best time of the session on the Medium tyre rather than the Soft as the two compounds seem to deliver close performances.

McLaren appeared to be using their older version of their front wing which was not the case in FP1 while Norris was using the new front suspension, Oscar Piastri, who finished the session sixth fastest, was using the older version.

It was disaster for Charles Leclerc who crashed in FP1 damaging his chassis as the team couldn't rebuild his car in time for FP2 and had to watch from the sidelines.

Williams dropped back a bit, but were still in a good place as Alex Albon was fourth fastest ahead of Fernando Alonso who was fifth in the Aston Martin which had only one car taking part in FP2 after Lance Stroll crashed early in the session.

As mentioned, Piastri was sixth with Carlos Sainz seventh fastest in the Williams, half a second off the pace and 0.022s clear of Lewis Hamilton who was eighth fastest in the only Ferrari taking part in FP2.

After topping FP1, Verstappen was only ninth in the second practice session, 0.543s off the best time, the reigning Formula 1 champion complaining about the ride of his RB21 that was bouncing at the rear.

While both Racing Bulls made the top ten in FP1, only Liam Lawson was tenth while Isack Hadjar 11th in the sister car.

It seems at the end of Day 1 of running in Montreal that Mercedes seem to be relishing the lower temperatures and with Russell taking pole here last year, they should have reasons to be optimistic.

Williams also remain solid, which is not a big surprise as the track doesn't require too much downforce, which works for their car.

Verstappen was the fastest driver in the first practice session in Canada while McLaren struggled to get up to speed on a track that lacked grip with many drivers suffering snaps over the course of the first 60 minutes of running.

That comes as the Woking squad have brought some upgrades for their MCL39 this weekend.

And while Williams were just behind Verstappen, their boss, James Vowles, admitted that was down to a different program.

But the biggest loser out of FP1 was Leclerc who crashed his Ferrari early on in the session and to make matters worse, the Monegasque will sit out FP2.

Ferrari said in a statement: "Due to the damage to his car sustained in the crash in FP1, Charles Leclerc will not take part in FP2, as the survival cell on his SF-25 needs to be replaced. As per the regulations, Charles will be able to drive in FP3."

So will Verstappen maintain his form? Will McLaren unlock the pace of their MCL39?

The session started in dry conditions but the track remained dusty as its temperature registered 41 degrees Celsius as air temperature was 19 degrees.

While the Soft tyre (C6) dominated the first session, the second started with a mix of Medium and Soft tyres.

Hamilton ran slightly wide at Turn 9 while Norris was off in the final chicane but rejoined in one piece.

But then Stroll brought out the Yellow Flag as TV footage showed an Aston Martin with broken front-left suspension limping on track. He parked it in the run-off area at the hairpin next to an access point as the marshals completed the job and cleared it.

Replay showed the Canadian going wide at Turn 7 and hitting the wall.

Soon, Piastri could not turn his car in the final chicane and went straight while he was on a timed lap on Mediums.

Verstappen then reported that his car is jumping like "crazy" at the rear adding that the rider was "terrible".

Then Hamilton radioed: "I need some help with the last corner, trying to figure out why the rear keeps kicking out."

At the 25-minute mark, Franco Colapinto spun his Alpine at Turn 2 and brought out the Yellow Flag briefly while Albon went straight in the final chicane.

Verstappen then became another driver to miss chicane something Albon did a few moments before he did.

Lawson almost rammed into a slow Colapinto in Turn 6 while Hadjar had a similar moment with a Sauber. Albon got in the way of an Alpine soon after.

Yuki Tsunoda almost lost control of his RB21 at Turn 10 while Pierre Gasly had a scary moment, a snap that got him very close to the wall at Turn 4, but he held it beautifully.

Verstappen spent some time in the garage but then rejoined the track with 18 minutes remaining on the clock. It seems Red Bull did quite some changes on his car.

He complained about his brakes not biting when they are a bit cold after missing the final chicane.

At this point, the focus turned to race simulations with high fuel loads.

Gabriel Bortoleto was not happy with how Sainz was driving in front of him as both cars almost crashed going into the chicane.

The session was concluded with practice starts.