Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Canadian GP: Lewis Hamilton fastest then crashes in wet F1 practice

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton set the pace in second Canadian Grand Prix practice before crashing into a tyre wall when heavy rain fell midway through the session

The reigning world champion clocked a 1m15.988s on the super-soft tyres, 0.316 seconds clear of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The session looked set to be a washout when predicted rain fell with 50 minutes remaining, but Mercedes decided to send Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg out on intermediates.

It proved to be a mistake as Hamilton aquaplaned on the approach to the hairpin and was powerless when his Mercedes slid into the tyre wall, damaging the front end of the car.

The session was red-flagged while marshals recovered the damaged Mercedes, which swung back into the tractor as it was pulled out of the wall, and there was no further running.

It compounded a scrappy day for Hamilton, who also spun at the hairpin during the first session and clobbered the kerbs at the final chicane in second practice before completing a tidier lap to set the pace.

With rain always predicted, teams wasted little time sending their drivers out on track at the start of the session to make the most of the dry conditions, particularly as it is expected to dry on Sunday.

Vettel was straight out on the super-softs and went quickest with a 1m16.304s before Hamilton put a clean lap together to top the times, finishing 0.452s clear of team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg back in fourth.

Kimi Raikkonen was third quickest with Ferrari splitting its programme and swapping the Finn to the softs while leaving Vettel on the super-softs to maximise data gathering.

In contrast, Mercedes left both Hamilton and Rosberg on the super-softs until the rain fell.

Lotus's Pastor Maldonado was an impressive fifth, ahead of Williams's Valtteri Bottas and the other Lotus of Romain Grosjean.

Williams driver Felipe Massa was eighth with Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo completing the top 10.

Nico Hulkenberg finished 11th for Force India, the German having to pit with a left-rear puncture, which Pirelli suggested was related to the rim rather than the tyre itself, 10 minutes into the session.

Sauber's Marcus Ericsson was 12th, ahead of the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz and Force India's Sergio Perez.

Fernando Alonso was the leading McLaren in 15th with Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen, who will take a five-place grid penalty following his collision with Grosjean in Monaco, 16th.

Sauber's Felipe Nasr, McLaren's Jenson Button and the Manors of Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens completed the timesheets.

PRACTICE TWO TIMES:

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m15.988s - 22
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m16.304s 0.316s 19
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m16.310s 0.322s 20
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m16.440s 0.452s 22
5 Pastor Maldonado Lotus/Mercedes 1m16.600s 0.612s 15
6 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1m16.849s 0.861s 18
7 Romain Grosjean Lotus/Mercedes 1m16.864s 0.876s 15
8 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m17.041s 1.053s 19
9 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull/Renault 1m17.092s 1.104s 10
10 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m17.111s 1.123s 16
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m17.120s 1.132s 15
12 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m17.261s 1.273s 17
13 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Renault 1m17.318s 1.330s 23
14 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m17.367s 1.379s 20
15 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m17.627s 1.639s 21
16 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso/Renault 1m17.657s 1.669s 23
17 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1m17.751s 1.763s 21
18 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1m18.135s 2.147s 20
19 Roberto Merhi Marussia/Ferrari 1m19.531s 3.543s 15
20 Will Stevens Marussia/Ferrari 1m19.734s 3.746s 13

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Revised Force India Formula 1 car passes crash test at second try
Next article Canadian GP: Honda buoyed by F1 upgrades, expects McLaren progress

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe