Ferrari FP2 report: Charles Leclerc P2, Carlos Sainz P3

Ferrari FP2 report: Charles Leclerc P2, Carlos Sainz P3 | 2022 F1 Canadian GP. Ferrari FP2 report.

With just a few minuted to go until the start of Practice Two for the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the sun continued to shine in Montreal. The threat of rain during this upcoming session saw teams opt to get some additional long-running in earlier on during FP1. But with qualifying forecast to take place in wet conditions on Saturday, the teams might not mind the opportunity to test out their wet set-ups.

Sebastian Vettel will face an investigation after the session for an unsafe pit release which saw him slice across the front of Haas driver Kevin Magnussen on his way out of the garage: “That was absolutely crazy, the Aston Martin,” Magnussen says over the radio.

Red Bull wasted no time in showing their pace. Max Verstappen was once more leading the way with a 1:15.096, which was more than half a second quicker than Charles Leclerc in second. Meanwhile, George Russell was out on track, but Lewis Hamilton remained in the pits in the first part of FP2. The Monegasque driver briefly closed to within a couple of tenths of Max Verstappen, but the world championship leader immediately responded to re-establish a near half-second advantage. Fernando Alonso, who was third in P1 for Alpine, once more occupied that position after the first runs.

Ferrari sent the message over the radio for Charles Leclerc to do two burnouts on the pitlane exit to put some heat in the rear tyres as he heads onto the track. However, he can’t comply with the request: “What is going on? I cannot do burnouts,” asks Charles – “That was because of the turbo,” comes the reply. At the same time, Carlos Sainz was reporting an uncomfortable ride in his Ferrari. He said over team radio that the bouncing is “worse” than it was in the first practice session. Despite that, he went just behind Verstappen, becoming the second driver to go under 1:15.

Charles Leclerc showed he’s got some speed up his sleeve too, as he got within a tenth of Max Verstappen, while his Maranello team-mate Carlos Sainz puts in a solid effort of his own to consolidate his position in third.

George Russell appeared to have have found a more satisfactory setup in his Mercedes. No such luck it would appear for Lewis Hamilton, who was down in 13th at the moment. He’s up to sixth, but still could’t get in front of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, who were fourth and fifth respectively. Sebastian Vettel was is just 0.3s back from Verstappen, with Fernando Alonso a further tenth back.

And that was the chequered flag to signal the end of the second free practice session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve: it was Max Verstappen who set the fastest time again, with the two Ferrari cars hot on his heels in second and third.