Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest in both free practice sessions for the Canadian Grand Prix, on each occasion using the P Zero Red soft tyre. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was just 0.081s behind him in FP2, also on the soft tyre. Following last night’s heavy rain, the weather was warm and dry during the day, with FP2 finishing in 26 degrees centigrade ambient and 33 degrees on track. More heavy rain fell immediately after the session, which will have the effect of ‘resetting’ the track before FP3 tomorrow.
A bit like the last race in Baku, FP1 was actually the most relevant session to the race: with both getting away at 2pm local time. FP2 was potentially less representative, taking place somewhat later than both qualifying and the race. Only the soft and the P Zero Yellow medium tyres were used in FP1, with the P Zero White hard tyres used by just two teams in FP2. Leclerc ran FP2 exclusively on the soft tyre: the only driver to do so. There’s currently a gap of around 0.5 seconds between the soft and the medium tyre, with a similar estimated gap to the hard. There was a high degree of track evolution throughout the sessions, but tonight’s rain will wash away any rubber that has been already laid down.
MARIO ISOLA, DIRETTORE MOTORSPORT: “It was interesting to see many teams doing long runs in FP1, which was probably down to a combination of reasons. Firstly, there was a need to gather data in case FP2 was affected by rain. Secondly, experiencing a surface that had been ‘reset’ by heavy rain was relevant, as these are also the conditions that the teams will face tomorrow and perhaps also on Sunday. The soft was very much the focus of the running today: even on a slippery track this morning, we only saw some very light abrasion on this compound. The hard was used much less, perhaps due to teams saving it for the race. As we’ve seen already, the weather has been extremely unpredictable so far, and we expect that to continue for the rest of the weekend”,
