Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the second practice session.
But the big story of practice was how most drivers struggled with the super-soft tyres, many of them complaining about severe graining on the option rubber.
Several drivers abandoned their final runs on super soft tyres with high fuel loads, switching back to the medium compound rubber.
Lewis Hamilton told his team on the radio he was ‘about to crash the car’ before coming into the pits and switching tyres.
Hamilton headed the times early on the session before being displaced by Nico Rosberg.
Some drivers were able to improve their times on the super-soft rubber, including Vettel, who set the fastest time of the session with them.
Later on Fernando Alonso slotted into second place, also using the super-soft tyres, less than a tenth of a second off Vettel’s time.
Jarno Trulli missed much of the session due to electrical problems on his Lotus. Lucas di Grassi managed to get on track having failed to set a time in first practice. He wound up slowest, the Virgins lagging behind the HRTs again.
As more rubber goes down on the track over the course of the week the graining problem is likely to become less severe. But it will tax the teams as they prepare their cars overnight for tomorrow’s final practice and qualifying session.
| Pos. | Car | Driver | Car | Best lap | Laps | |
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’16.877 | 32 | |
| 2 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’16.963 | 0.086 | 35 |
| 3 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’17.151 | 0.274 | 34 |
| 4 | 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’17.273 | 0.396 | 33 |
| 5 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’17.401 | 0.524 | 33 |
| 6 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’17.415 | 0.538 | 28 |
| 7 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’17.522 | 0.645 | 29 |
| 8 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1’17.529 | 0.652 | 36 |
| 9 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’17.688 | 0.811 | 34 |
| 10 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1’17.903 | 1.026 | 35 |
| 11 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’17.961 | 1.084 | 33 |
| 12 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’18.385 | 1.508 | 27 |
| 13 | 10 | Nico H???lkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1’18.447 | 1.57 | 41 |
| 14 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’18.582 | 1.705 | 40 |
| 15 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’18.658 | 1.781 | 34 |
| 16 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’19.142 | 2.265 | 38 |
| 17 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’19.168 | 2.291 | 32 |
| 18 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’19.274 | 2.397 | 41 |
| 19 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’19.969 | 3.092 | 35 |
| 20 | 20 | Karun Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth | 1’20.879 | 4.002 | 29 |
| 21 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1’21.097 | 4.22 | 31 |
| 22 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’21.346 | 4.469 | 11 |
| 23 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’21.488 | 4.611 | 25 |
| 24 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’21.577 | 4.7 | 30 |
2010 Canadian Grand Prix
Sandman
11th June 2010, 20:37
Question remains: are Macca’s taking it easy, or is Ferrari really back in game?
BasCB (@bascb)
11th June 2010, 20:39
Seems Di Grassi is missing in the list Keith.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
11th June 2010, 20:45
He’s not that important…
Kidding, he’s in there now.
JohnBt
12th June 2010, 10:08
I like your reply on this, like having a beer while chilling out. Cool and humorous.
vitor
11th June 2010, 20:41
mclaren didn’t work with soft tyres.
S Hughes
11th June 2010, 20:44
Doesn’t look good for McLaren. That Whitmarsh should really just go!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
11th June 2010, 20:46
A bit knee-jerk don’t you think? They did alright in the last race as I remember.
David A
11th June 2010, 20:54
Yeah, and they kinda “alright” in China too.
David A
11th June 2010, 20:55
Yeah, and they kinda did “alright” in China too.
S Hughes
11th June 2010, 21:12
S’ppose so. I just thought that they had brought the car forward and it seems to have gone backwards.
Burt
11th June 2010, 22:09
Er, I think they did alright in FP1 too. I doubt they’ve gone backwards in the space of a few hours. They both headed the time sheets early on before switching to heavier fuel runs for the rest of the session. At least that’s the way I saw it, but hey, it’s only Friday Practice.
Michel S.
12th June 2010, 1:08
A bit knee-jerk — now, when it comes to Williams, I’ve had the opinion that Sam Michael needs to go ever since those walrus-tusk cars came out…
simon
12th June 2010, 3:03
Agreed! Sam Michael must go. He is driving that team into the ground. He could not even get on with Mark Webber for crying out loud, and they are both from the same country. I vote flick him!!
Mike
12th June 2010, 9:01
!! I’m rather surprised, my impression was that Sam Michael was rather good.
Younger Hamilton
11th June 2010, 23:47
McLaren didnt do low fuel runs on the option tyres(Super soft) like the Redbulls and Ferraris and Rosberg who were top of the time sheets.They only worked with the options on Heavy Fuels runs.Im Pretty sure both McLarens would have went quicker if they did low fuel runs with the super softs(Option Tyres)
Tom L.
12th June 2010, 1:30
For some reason I doubt getting rid of Whitmarsh would make the cars go quicker round the track!
BasCB (@bascb)
11th June 2010, 20:51
So McLaren needs to qualify on the first row and just get as far as it goes on super softs using their speed advantage to stay in front until the pitstops.
Then get going on Mediums to win it. But they would have to hope the Red bulls pit at the same time or lose out.
Maybe the Ferrari does have a chance of winning, if they are really a little bit more kind to their tyres as said during testing.
Looks like Renault will not be doing as well as they hoped in qualifying here.
U2
11th June 2010, 20:52
Will be interesting .. you think some of the top runners would do Q3 on the harder of the two compounds?
DaveW
11th June 2010, 21:08
The question is long run pace on the harder tires. The heavy fuel stroke option tire scenario is only for the first 1/3 for the race. And just because someone was quick on options for a lap on heavy fuel doesn’t mean they didn’t root the tires doing it. And it is irrelevant to qualifying. Lastly, Lewis Hamilton is prone to unhinged hyperbole on the radio, for example, his desperate cries about tires at the end of Australia, while he was vacuuming up Ferraris.
The key information from this session is what people did on fumes with the option, and their consistency with the medium tire. I expect Keith’s usual excellent interactive chart will reveal this information.
I’m going to speculate that VMM and Mercedes did their low fuel stuff in P1, thus their leading the tables then and not doing so now. RBR and Ferrari did theirs just now. (When did Webber do his, though?)
US_Peter
11th June 2010, 21:12
So then why was Rosberg so quick in P2?
DaveW
11th June 2010, 21:36
He’s quick? Who knows.
My turn. Ferrari hasn’t done anything to their car since Turkey but give it a wash. It’s up front. What’s with that?
Also note that Hamilton jumped up massively in the speed trap, Button by a bit. Vettel is slower. And now Vettel is making up a whopping .5s in Sector one over Hamilton, almost all of his advantage over the lap. McLaren needs to put that downforce back on the car and they will be OK.
nelly
11th June 2010, 21:42
ferrari were testing a new front wing i think but thats all they’ve brought.
BBT
11th June 2010, 21:48
Correct, they will put more wing back on tomorrow.
macahan (@macahan)
11th June 2010, 22:51
Early this week I think it was I predicted that RedBull would be very strong in sector 1 and might be able to create the gap in sector 1 to ensure that McLaren wouldn’t be able to get the overtake move on them for the hair pin and the slow area just before pit straight is not a great overtaking spot if RedBull can get it on pole and hold McLaren of at the start you will see something similar as in Turkey where RedBull pulled away in corner 8 and McLaren realing in after corner 8 but always to little to late to really put the move on them. Might see the same thing here sector 1 RedBull pulling away, straight to hairpin McL realing back in but not enough lap after lap. Assuming no botched pitstop RedBull looks good for the podium and outright win. Doubt you will see a replay of Turkey lap 40 to give it to McL. Maybe Button will edge Hamilton and Hamilton get stuck behind and try something stupid ;)
BasCB (@bascb)
12th June 2010, 12:25
The strategy for McLaren would be to go to more downforce in the 1st section (as Button suggests) to stay close enough to the RedBulls to be able to pass on the straights.
dj
11th June 2010, 21:35
Over at espnf1 (the old f1 live)in pit babes they have a pic of Vettal…too funny
macahan (@macahan)
11th June 2010, 21:56
well what do you know. McLaren was said to be very strong for Canada and Red Bull would suffer yadi yada.
It looks to me RedBull is definately in the game but Mercedes and Ferrari looks very strong which to me was a bit surprisingly and I not heard many tipping that way. Kubica looks fast and strong to (which was expected).
Going to be VERY interesting tomorrow during practice to see if the trend continues. Not to mention quali and race.
bosyber
11th June 2010, 22:30
Not sure where to mention this, but given it is partly about tires: http://adamcooperf1.com/2010/06/11/ecclestone-squeezing-teams-on-pit-garage-advertising/
Teams not being allowed to use garage walls to display stuff, even though they have been doing just that for years? Sounds like Bernie negotiating tactics indeed. Not sure if it is about tires, or to counter their wishes for more money if they have to spend more on extra races next seasons.
I guess if this gains traction teams will just do like McLaren now seem to do with their rebranding of the garage, and just but a box with their own stuff/branding/logo inside the walls of the pitbox and call it inventory.
J
11th June 2010, 23:01
Doesn’t look good for the Mclarens. They never hide their pace in practice.
Jarred Walmsley
11th June 2010, 23:14
Has anyone else noticed that Kovalainen (as the fastest driver for the new teams) is now only 0.695 seconds of the pace of the slowest established teams as opposed to the 2.362 seconds that Timo Glock (Fastest driver in FP3 Bahrain (FP2 had a mucked up order) was off in Bahrain, the new teams are certainly developing well, if my maths is correct that means as a group they have made 1.667 seconds up over the season so far.
Younger Hamilton
11th June 2010, 23:50
Wow i didnt even notice that until you mentioned it.Looks like Lotus’s Low Downforce package is working well.
Nuevo
11th June 2010, 23:31
Well I hope the Ferrari’s are back in it..kube looks good, Vettel is doing good 1st sector..macs will be quick, they headed fp1…surprise was MS..dont count him out for front row Q…then again, I may be crazy..
Cacarella
12th June 2010, 0:35
Just got back from the track and FP2, thought I’d share some trackside observations…
I was seated at turn 8 and 9, and didn’t realize how much the cars had to slow before the turn. The Redbull cars were noticably quick through this turn, and seemed to be able to get on the throttle much sooner than the rest of the feild. Although, it could just seem to be on the throttle sooner because they are also considerably LOUDER than any of the other cars as well. I was very suprized by this, even though the Renault engine seemed loud in the Renualt as well, it was much louder in the Bull. Based on the way they took this turn, in comparison to the other cars I’d guess they’re still the team to beat this race.
Another thing, Ferrari seem to have gotten rid of the ‘barcode’ or ‘box’ and I haven’t seen a peep about it yet. whut up with that?
Luca Digrasi’s brakes had a noticably squealling sound when braking for this turn. I heard it on three seperate occasions in FP3 and it was very noticable.
(It sounded like a road car, with squeaky brakes)
I’ll let you know if I spot anything tomorrow after Qualifying.
BasCB (@bascb)
12th June 2010, 12:28
Great live action news, thanks Cacarella.
Interesting about the sound, probably something with the exhaust system? From FP2 it looks like RedBull are doing well here, if they can really accelerate earlier out of the corners that may be key to winning here.
Virgin confirmed DiGrassi had brake problems, so that seems to be what you heard.
Glenn (@glenn)
12th June 2010, 0:40
So yeah just looking at the trends for this year… I think the fastest on Friday is not been the fastest on Saturday. I think that Mclaren are playing the “RBR” role this weekend where they hide true pace on Friday to only pour it on on Saturday. They will get the set up right on Saturday and be fastest by FP3.
Cacarella
12th June 2010, 0:40
One other thing,
At the start of FP2, when Webber drove past our grandstand for the first time, about 50% of the fans applauded him (regardless of who they actually support). When Vettel passed shortly after, about 5 people cheered.
Just an observation
simon
12th June 2010, 3:08
Vettels family were there?……
JohnBt
12th June 2010, 10:02
It’s not an observation. It’s a fact now. And I’m sure you were not one of the 5 people who cheered.
Cacarella
12th June 2010, 13:38
It actually really caught me off gaurd.
I thought everyone cheered because they had come out so early in the session and they were preforming so well. I didn`t put two and two together til vettel drove past.
wasiF1
12th June 2010, 2:39
The Mercedes powered cars are all looking good for the race & qualifying. Surprised to see Red Bull topping the time sheet.May be that they have found some extra horses on the wings of the car.
Dr. Gonzo
12th June 2010, 4:53
Keith,Alonso’s time was .963 – .086 behind
from the FIA:
1 5 S. VETTEL GER Red Bull Racing 1:16.877 32 204.217 14:55:50
2 8 F. ALONSO ESP Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:16.963 35 0.086 203.988 15:03:09
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
12th June 2010, 10:17
Sorry about that – changed it.
iceshiel
12th June 2010, 5:20
Lotus looks like their catching up to Torro Rosso.