Alonso tops damp second practice as electrical fault halts Verstappen

Fernando Alonso set the fastest time on slick tyres before rain fell in second practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.

The Aston Martin driver was quickest on a slightly damp track on soft tyres before rain intensified, preventing anyone from improving their times.

Championship leader Max Verstappen completed only four laps after suffering an electrical problem in his Red Bull, leading to his car receiving intensive repair work in the garage for the majority of the session.

After the opening practice session was affected by rain and effectively shortened to 40 minutes as a result of water on track, the track was dry enough for slicks in the minutes leading up to the second hour of practice. However, a shower fell over the circuit as cars queued up at the end of the pit lane forcing all of those who headed out on softs to return to the pits.

Charles Leclerc was sent out on intermediate tyres as the rain began to fall, however, this was before race director Niels Wittich had officially declared the track as ‘wet’. This was in violation of the regulations, with race control announcing that Leclerc would be investigated for the violation after the session.

Despite the rain making the track damp, the shower was short and drivers soon headed back out on slick tyres. Alonso set the quickest time with a 1’15.810 on soft tyres, while drivers enjoyed their first meaningful running on dry tyres of the weekend.

Verstappen’s running was interrupted when he returned to the pit lane with smoke from his Red Bull. After returning to the garage, the team cordoned off the RB20, with Verstappen made to jump clear of the car after climbing out of the cockpit, indicating an electrical fault.

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Rain returned to the circuit with greater intensity than at the top of the hour, resulting in the field making for the sanctuary of the pits. Eventually, the bulk of the field rejoined the track to complete more wet weather running on the intermediates, but Verstappen was unable to join them with the ongoing work on his car.

Eventually the hour elapsed and the chequered flag signalled that Alonso would end Friday as the quickest driver, his best time four tenths better than Russell’s

Montreal’s own Lance Stroll was third fastest, six tenths slower than his team mate on slicks, with Charles Leclerc in fourth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen, Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda. Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez completed the top ten runners.

After taking his car back from Jack Doohan following the opening session, Esteban Ocon completed the most laps of the session. Verstappen had by far the fewest laps of any of the 20 drivers, getting just four laps in to add to his ten from the earlier session.

McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will both be summoned to the stewards after failing to stay to the left of the bollard at the end of the escape road at the final chicane.

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2024 Canadian Grand Prix second practice result

P.	#	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR24	1’15.810		25
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W15	1’16.273	0.463	24
3	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR24	1’16.464	0.654	27
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-24	1’16.556	0.746	24
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB-Honda RBPT	01	1’16.731	0.921	23
6	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-24	1’16.773	0.963	15
7	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W15	1’16.908	1.098	27
8	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	01	1’16.951	1.141	22
9	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW46	1’16.977	1.167	22
10	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB20	1’17.041	1.231	19
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A524	1’17.417	1.607	31
12	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	FW46	1’17.496	1.686	22
13	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-24	1’17.722	1.912	27
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber-Ferrari	C44	1’17.817	2.007	21
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-24	1’17.903	2.093	20
16	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL38	1’19.008	3.198	20
17	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber-Ferrari	C44	1’19.087	3.277	17
18	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB20	1’19.311	3.501	4
19	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A524	1’20.789	4.979	26
20	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL38	1’20.843	5.033	21

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2024 Canadian Grand Prix

• “He needs to be more careful”: Unheard radio messages from the Canadian Grand Prix
• Marko contradicts stewards’ reason for Red Bull and Perez penalties
• Only one F1 championship looks like a worthwhile fight in 2024
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• Mercedes suspect Montreal track layout ‘made us look quicker’

Browse all 2024 Canadian Grand Prix articles