Practice 2 Report - Two for Two

By Dan Knutson in Montreal

Lewis Hamilton made it two for two on Friday in Montreal as he set the quickest lap time in Free Practice 2 in the afternoon just as he had in Free Practice 1 in the morning.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Centigrade.)

The line-up for the weekend is: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull TAG Heuer - Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen . Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Renault - Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer. Toro Rosso Ferrari - Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz. Sauber Ferrari - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Manor Mercedes - Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto. Haas Ferrari - Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez.

Wehrlein and Raikkonen were the first out on the 2.709-mile (4.361-km) 14-turn track as the 90 minute FP2 session got underway.

Hulkenberg used Pirelli's super soft compound tires to set the early marker with a time of 1:16.533 only to have his teammate Perez beat that with a 1:16.203. Perez then improved to a 1:16.065.

It didn't take long for Verstappen to move in front as he posted a 1:15.920, but Ricciardo, whose first F1 victory came at this track, trimmed that to a 1:15.530 using a set of the super softs. Verstappen, also on the super softs, responded with time that was 0.088 of a second quicker.

Then, 17 minutes into the session, Hamilton topped the list after setting a 1:15.343, yet he didn't stay on top very long as Verstappen now went 0.084 of a second faster.

Verstappen had used the super soft Pirelli slicks, but Hamilton was on the soft compound when he posted a 1:14.941. Bottas and Massa used the ultra softs to take over the second and fourth spots respectively.

Then, just at the one-third point of the session, Rosberg, on the ultra soft Pirellis, jumped into the lead with a 1:14.751.

At the one-third mark the top 10 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Massa, Ricciardo, Vettel and Kvyat.

Rosberg, on the ultras, improved to a 1:14.738, but Hamilton, on the same tires, then turned a 1:14.212.

Next, Vettel clocked a 1:14.875, good enough for third place but six-tenths of a second slower than Hamilton. Vettel then improved to 1:14.469, which was 0.257 of a second off Hamilton's time.

Others were making runs on the ultra soft tires now including Ricciardo who's time was just 0.012 of a second slower than teammate Verstappen who was in fourth place.

Now, with 40 minutes remaining, the order was: Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Bottas, Button, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen and Sainz.

The teams began doing long runs on the ultra softs, super soft and soft Pirellis and with heavy fuel loads in the cars, so the lap times did not improve among the top 10 drivers with the exception of Raikkonen moving ahead of Hulkenberg.

And so the session wound down with Hamilton going two for two on Friday in Montreal.