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Formula 1
Canadian GP
F1 Canadian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the eight round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
F1 begins its eighth round this weekend with another trip across the Atlantic for the Canadian GP.
Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by 53 points from Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, following his latest win in Spain coupled with the Mexican’s fourth place finish behind both Mercedes drivers.
First practice starts at 6:30pm BST with second practice at 10pm BST.
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Off track
While Ocon's car is being recovered, replays show Tsunoda having a big lock-up into T1 and running wide. Fair to say that tyre has seen better days.
Worth pointing out that like FP1, the session timer continues to tick down even under a red flag. As it stands there's 43 minutes left.
Green flag
And we're back underway again.
While there may be just over 40 minutes left, not all of that is guaranteed to be held in the dry. There's definitely rain in the area.
Hamilton is currently last but out on a set of softs, so expect him to climb up the order pretty soon.
Stopwatch
It's a personal best in S1 and S3 which puts him P5 with a time of 1m14.356s.
Russell goes for another lap but can't improve and stays P9.
Verstappen winds himself up for another run, but fails to improve in S1.
He fails to improve in the remaining two sectors and stays P3. It feels almost unnatural not to see Verstappen in P1.
There's not much improvement across the board as drivers focus on long runs except one driver: Fernando Alonso.
Stopwatch
The Aston Martin driver sets a purple S1 and personal bests in the remaining two sectors to move up to P5 with a 1m14.231s.
Replays show Magnussen and De Vries almost coming together in the pitlane. The AlphaTauri driver was shown the green light to leave his box, but came so close to being collected by the Haas.
Just over 30 minutes remaining in FP2, and if you're a Ferrari fan you've got something to smile about. Sainz currently leads Leclerc, with Verstappen in third.
Rain
Weather update: De Vries is told by his engineer that rain is coming in 10 minutes!
Stopwatch
Russell is making the most of the dry running, going purple in the middle sector and to the top of the times! A great lap for the Mercedes driver who posts a 1m13.745s.
Stopwatch
Well, well, well. Not to be outdone by his younger team-mate, Hamilton jumps ahead by just fractions with a 1m13.718s.
It's early days, but it definitely looks like Mercedes and Ferrari could at least trouble Red Bull this weekend. And we've not been able to say that very often in 2023 so far!
In amongst all that, Alonso has jumped into fourth to show that Aston Martin shouldn't be discounted in Montreal.
It's fair to say that from the images we're seeing, when it rains it's not going to be a light shower. Ominous dark rain clouds all around the circuit.
But for now, no precipitation is hitting the track as Leclerc embarks on another lap with the medium rubber.
Quote
"Looks like it might just be missing us" reports Russell's engineer when he's asked about whether the rain will hit.
Ooofff! Big oversteer moment for Gasly exiting the Turn 4 left-hander as his rear tyre is just inches away from the wall.
Gasly may have been close to hitting the wall, but Piastri definitely has made contact. The McLaren driver describes it as a clip with the wall, but it's a fair old whack exiting the final chicane although he's able to continue.
The Australian is currently P11, two places higher than team-mate Norris. It's been a quiet session for the McLaren duo.
A nose change for Leclerc's Ferrari. No signs of damage, so perhaps a setup change more than anything.
Off track
Sainz and Albon have been exploring the limits, the Ferrari driver cutting the final chicane while the Williams man takes to the grass at T1.
Just over 10 minutes left and despite it looking like the end times out there, incredibly no one is reporting of any rain hitting the track.
That hasn't stopped Perez from going out on a set of intermediate tyres though. And he's joined by Verstappen. Clearly Red Bull believe the rain is going to hit any second...
And they are back in. That all seemed pretty pointless but who are we to question Red Bull's strategy?
It may not be raining but Hamilton is told by his engineer that the wind has picked up substantially.
Leclerc has also ventured out on intermediates, but tells his team that it's not raining! There's no denying that the wind has blown pollen and various other bits of debris onto the track possibly making it slippy, but as far as we can tell there's no actual rain.
Rain
And here comes the rain...
It appears to be hitting the T10 hairpin, but for now the pitlane remains dry. Unsurprisingly almost everyone is in the pits apart from Norris.
He's decided to hell with it and is giving the crowd something cheer about as he slips and slides his way around.
One lap is enough though and he boxes. Just over two minutes left and I think that's it for today's running.
Or not. Both Aston Martins decide to head out on track in the final minute. I guess any chance to sample these sorts of conditions is worth it... until it goes wrong.
It certainly looks too wet for the intermediate tyre which was what both are on. They're joined by Sainz, Leclerc, Bottas, Zhou and Norris. Although at this stage all are practically crawling around.
Checkered flag
And there we are - the end of FP2.
After 90 minutes of running, it's a Mercedes 1-2 with Hamilton heading Russell. Who had that on their bingo card ahead of the session?
Off track
Replays show Bottas losing control into the T10 hairpin and going onto the grass before coming a bit too close for comfort to a Ferrari ahead. No damage done, though, but a heart-in-mouth moment.
By: Autosport Staff
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