Formula 1: Alonso fastest during rain affected FP2 in Canada

CANADA: Fernando Alonso set the fastest time during a rain-affected Free Practice 2 at the Canadian Grand Prix, with the Spaniard putting his lap in during drier running earlier in the session, while Max Verstappen had his session curtailed after a technical problem.

Amid grey skies and a high risk of rain when the lights went green at 1700 local time, Verstappen led a queue out of the pit lane as many drivers looked to put some early laps on the board before any potential change in the conditions. There was soon trouble for Charles Leclerc, with the Monegasque noted by the stewards for ‘tyre usage’ after heading out on used intermediates when the track had not been declared wet. The alleged offence will be investigated after the session.

With most of the pack running slick tyres in the early stages, the arrival of increasingly heavy rainfall started to cause problems. Lance Stroll – a driver known for performing well in the wet – and Kevin Magnussen were amongst those to run off the circuit, before the conditions started to improve again.

“I smell a bit of smoke,” Verstappen reported from his RB20 as the hour headed towards its halfway point. With the Dutchman having safely gotten out of the car in the Red Bull garage, the mechanics set to investigating the problem.

Traffic was becoming an issue out on track, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz voicing their frustration. However, as the rain increased again, everybody soon returned to the pit lane, leading to a lull in the action while Alonso sat at the top of the timesheets. It was confirmed that Verstappen would not be rejoining the session owing to an ERS issue on his car, but there was a late burst of action for the rest in the latter stages, with many bolting on the intermediate tyres for their final laps.

While the track became increasingly dry, Alonso’s earlier time of 1m 15.810s in the Aston Martin remained unbeaten, with the Mercedes of George Russell following in P2 while Stroll slotted into P3. Leclerc – who suffered a spin later in the session – claimed P4, from the RB of Daniel Ricciardo in P5.

Haas’s Kevin Magnussen was sixth, ahead of Hamilton in seventh and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in eighth. Alex Albon took ninth in the Williams, with Sergio Perez rounding out the top-10 as the sole Red Bull to complete the session.