#F1 #CanadianGP FP2: @GeorgeRussell63 tops time-sheets ahead of @LandoNorris, #Antonelli.
George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W16, Free Practice 2, Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix Du Canada 2025, Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec. Canada. Image credit to Zak Mauger/LAT Images. Russell Canadian GP FP2, Canadian GP FP2 Results, F1 Canadian GP FP2, Formula 1 Canada FP2.
Russell Canadian GP FP2 – George Russell ended the afternoon FP2 session quickest on the time-sheets at the Canadian GP ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli who completed the top three.
Russell set the session-topping benchmark of a 1:12.123 on the C5 yellow-marked medium compounds and was a narrow 0.028 seconds faster than Norris who posted his flyer on the softs along with Antonelli who was a further 0.288 seconds adrift in third.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Oliver Bearman was the first driver to lead the pack out and on the C5 yellow-marked mediums followed by Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton also on the C5’s.
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was the first to register a benchmark, setting a 1:17.262, which was quickly beaten by McLaren’s Piastri’s 1:15.400 then, and that was trounced by Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda who posted a 1:15.047.
Hamilton after abandoning his initial flyer, shot to the head of the times with a 1:14.597 as the other Alpine of Pierre Gasly jumped to second in the order with a 1:14.704.
Williams duo Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz then went P1 and P2 respectively as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso then split the duo in second with his 1:14.083 effort.
Mercedes’ George Russell was next to post a 1:13.482 to snatch P1 as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll suffered a shunt.
Replays showed home favourite Stroll, understeering slightly, and kissing the wall at high-speed. It was slightly too heavy an impact for the Canadian to get away with it, instead his front suspension breaking.
He has parked up at the hairpin, with his AMR25 entry likely to stay there for the rest of the session now.
Verstappen posted a 1:13.429 to go quickest but was rapidly beaten by Norris’s 1:13.335 effort.
Hamilton followed to go back into P2 and only 0.022 seconds adrift of the McLaren driver.
Williams Albon then returned to P1 on the C6 softer tyre posting a 1:13.135 to be 0.200 seconds clear of Norris.
Russell, on the softs was back on it 11 minutes into the session, setting a 1:12.887 to go back to P1 as Verstappen slotted into third in the order.
Williams’ Sainz then moved into second place to be 0.431 seconds adrift of Russell’s benchmark 14 minutes into the hour-long session.
Verstappen was next, setting a 1:12.815 to be 0.213 seconds off Russell to be in second on the classification.
RB’s Isack Hadjar on his mediums, split the Williams pairing in fourth and was 0.449 seconds off Russell’s effort.
Aston Martin’s sole running driver Fernando Alonso moved up into fifth place with his 1:13.104 flyer.
Sainz then jumped back into second with his 1:12.784 hot-lap and was 0.162 off Russell’s top time as the session closed in on the 20th minute mark.
The majority of the field returned to the pits with 40 minutes remaining to adjust their setups.
Alonso still on-track with his C6 softer rubber, and a purple sector one and two personal bests jumped to fourth on a 1:12.882.
Russell then improved on his flying tour after stopping in the pits, setting a 1:12.123 as Hamilton slotted into fifth and was 0.778 seconds.
With 36 minutes left on the clock Alpine’s Colapinto suffered a spin at turn two.
Hadjar was next, as the Frenchman put his VCARB02 racer in P3, and was 0.676 off Russell’s effort on the softs.
Gasly then followed to take fifth with his soft hot-lap as Hamilton then reclaimed second with a 1:12.693 and was 0.530 seconds off Russell’s medium tyre benchmark.
With half-an-hour left on the clock, Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli jumped to second on the C6’s to be 0.288 seconds off team-mate Russell as Norris slotted into third and 0.479 seconds further adrift.
Piastri then slotted into third splitting both Antonelli and Norris with his 1:12.595 effort.
Norris followed to second quickest on a 1:12.151 and was 0.028 seconds off Russell.
Albon on the C5’s then moved up into fourth despite going purple in sector two, the Thai-Briton driver set a 1:12.445 as Alonso slotted into P5 behind the Williams driver with his 1:12.458 hot-lap.
Piastri with 21 minutes remaining, jumped to P6 with his soft tyre stint and was 0.439 seconds off Russell’s benchmark.
The entire field then returned to the pits with 20 minutes left to adjust their setups once more and to begin their traditional long race data runs.
The track was very busy out there towards the sessions’ end, with not many drivers having any fresh air for the longer runs. Bearman’s mediums were 23 laps old, the Haas driver down in P16 after completing 29 laps in total.
Several drivers hit 30 laps in this session, with race distance 70 laps for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Russell ended the day fastest with Norris second and Antonelli third.
Williams’ Albon followed in fourth and ahead of Alonso who took fifth for Aston Martin and championship leader Piastri who was sixth for McLaren.
The other Williams FW47 entry of Sainz was next in seventh as Hamilton placed eighth for Ferrari.
Reigning world champion Verstappen and RB’s Liam Lawson rounded out the top ten.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was unable to take part in the second practice session due to a chassis change after his heavy crash in the earlier Free Practice One session.
As for Stroll, he is making his comeback after missing the Spanish Grand Prix last time out with an injury. But he crashed early in the session, parking up and losing valuable track time. That is hardly the comeback the Canadian was after at his home Grand Prix.
You can see the full Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix Du Canada 2025 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1263/canada/practice/2
#F1 #CanadianGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen quickest ahead of @WilliamsRacing duo.
