Practice 2 Report - M&M

Ferrari and Fernando Alonso may have sneaked in the fastest time in FP1, but FP2 was all Mercedes & Montreal. Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were almost half a second quicker than Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull, and they were more than half a second quicker than Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Centigrade.)

Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) and Max Chilton (Marussia) were the first out. Both did practice starts at the pit exit. The former set the first time: 1:25.338.

As in FP1, the drivers were on Pirelli's soft compound slicks with the yellow sidewalls.

Fernando Alonso had been quickest in FP1 after clocking a 1:17.238 in his Ferrari. But with the dust getting blown off the track and the racing line getting "rubbered in" the lap times were going to come down.

5 minutes into the session, Kamui Kobayashi spun his Caterham at Turn 1.

7 minutes into the session, Jean-Eric Vergne set a 1:19.007 in his Toro Rosso, and then Jenson Button beat that with a 1:18.546 in his McLaren. Valtteri Bottas crossed the line in his Williams to record a 1:18.249. Then his teammate Felipe Massa beat that with a 1:18.032.

10 minutes into the session, Esteban Gutierrez spun his Sauber at Turn 4 and continued.

12 minutes into the session, Bottas was back on top with a time of 1:17.597. Lewis Hamilton did a quick lap in his Mercedes but ended up second with a 1:17.625. Nico Rosberg then turned a 1:17.610 to take over second.

17 minutes into the session, Rosberg slammed in a lap at 1:16.892 and Hamilton did a 1:17.065.

19 minutes into the session, Alonso moved into third place with a 1:17.153 as Rosberg improved to a 1:16.777.

22 minutes into the session, Hamilton took top honors with a lap in 1:16.692.

29 minutes into the session, Adrian Sutil (Sauber) and Magnussen nearly collided in the last two turns before the pit straight.

At the one-third mark in FP2 the top six were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Bottas and Felipe Massa (Williams.)

By now several drivers were trying the super soft compound slicks with the red sidewalls.

34 minutes into the session, Marcus Ericsson parked his Caterham on the escape road at Turn 3.

36 minutes into the session, Rosberg started a lap on the super softs. He set the new barrier at 1:16.687 which was only 0.005 of a second quicker than Hamilton's time on the soft tires. Then Hamilton, on super softs, clocked a 1:16.118.

Meanwhile, Jules Bianchi had done only three laps in his Marussia.

42 minutes into the session, Massa moved to third with a 1:16.882 while Bottas was now fourth with a 1:16.893. Rosberg improved to a 1:16.293.

Midway through FP2 the top six were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa, Bottas, Alonso and Vergne.

With 42 minutes remaining in the session, Alonso moved back to third after turning a 1:16.701. Nobody was within half a second of the Mercedes duo.

With 40 minutes remaining in the session, the McLaren boys were improving on the super softs as Magnussen was now sixth ahead of teammate Jenson Button. The Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel lagged down in 11th and 16th.

With 36 minutes remaining in the session, Kimi Raikkonen slotted his Ferrari into third place with a lap of 1:16.648. A couple of laps later Raikkonen spun and continued at the Turn 10 hairpin.

At the one hour mark the top six were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Alonso, Massa and Bottas. With Magnussen seventh and Button eighth, that meant there were six Mercedes-powered cars in the top 8.

Most teams devoted the last half-hour of FP2 to doing longer runs on the soft and super soft tires to check them for wear and degradation.

With 22 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel finally went out on the super softs and jumped from 15th to sixth with a time of 1:16.841. Then he jumped to third with a 1:16.573.

With 17 minutes remaining in the session, only four drivers were not on track as the long runs continued. And two of those were Bianchi who still was in the pits having done just three laps, and the stranded Ericsson.

The session wound down without too much further drama until Vergne went down an escape road. He reversed back on the track and was on his way again.

The top dozen at the end of FP2 were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel Raikkonen, Alonso, Massa, Bottas, Magnussen, Button, Vergne, Romain Grosjean (Lotus) and Ricciardo.