Two free practice sessions, as many sessions disrupted by rain.
The drivers had all sorts of difficulties taming the sometimes wet, sometimes dry track of the Gilles Villeneuve circuit on Friday. The two Aston Martin drivers, known to be comfortable in the rain, nevertheless came out on top, with Fernando Alonso fastest in the second session of the day, two places ahead of Lance Stroll.
The Spaniard clocked the fastest lap of the afternoon in 1 min 15.810 sec, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell (0463 sec) and Stroll (0654 sec). Despite a few showers, the second session of the day was much more efficient than the first, dominated by Lando Norris (McLaren) in 1 min 24.435 s.
Afterward, the Montrealer was satisfied with his day, despite the low number of laps completed. The bad weather gave his team the opportunity to adjust its plans and validate the behavior of the tires, he noted during a short appearance on TV.
“It was a complicated Friday,” added Fernando Alonso. We are a bit in the unknown. It will be a good weekend for those watching us, but for us, we will have to make the right bets, especially in relation to the choice of tires. »
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did well in both cases, setting the third and fourth fastest times, respectively, but he could well be penalized. He was in fact summoned by the FIA and had to meet the race stewards early in the evening because he used intermediate tires even though the track had not been officially declared wet.
The first free practice session was particularly stormy. It started almost half an hour late due to a violent downpour of rain and hail, so much so that the track was still soaked when the cars came out of the pits. However, the road surface had dried during the runners’ practice laps.
The second session was problematic for reigning world champion and general classification leader Max Verstappen, who had to get out of his car after smelling smoke, according to what we could hear on the airwaves. radio.