Russell Leads Mixed Practice Session in Montreal

George Russell set the pace during a disruptive second free practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix, signalling a potentially strong weekend for Mercedes on the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. The Briton's best time, a 1m12.123s, was notably set on the medium compound tyre, suggesting varying strategies and performance levels across different rubber types heading into qualifying. McLaren's Lando Norris finished a close second, just 0.028 seconds adrift, but achieved his time on the softer tyre, highlighting the intriguing tactical choices teams face on the bumpy Montreal circuit. Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli impressed with the third fastest time on the softs, showcasing the potential of the updated Mercedes package. The session was marked by several incidents and challenges for key teams. Home favourite Lance Stroll suffered a significant setback early on when he damaged his Aston Martin against the wall at Turn 7, bringing his running to an abrupt halt. This followed a difficult FP1 session for Ferrari, where Charles Leclerc crashed, requiring a chassis change that forced him to miss FP2 entirely. Championship leader Max Verstappen also had a subdued afternoon. After topping FP1, the Red Bull driver could only manage the ninth fastest time in FP2. He reported that his car felt 'nervous' and struggled with brake temperatures, indicating that Red Bull may not have the immediate advantage seen at recent races. Several drivers, including Verstappen, were observed bypassing the final chicane as they battled grip levels. Elsewhere in the field, Williams showed promising pace, with Alex Albon finishing fourth on the mediums and Carlos Sainz taking seventh on softs, suggesting the FW47 might be well-suited to the track characteristics. Fernando Alonso put the remaining Aston Martin fifth, an encouraging result given the team's earlier incident. Traffic proved to be a frustration for numerous drivers, impacting lap times, particularly for the RB pair of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar who finished just outside the top ten. The mixed results and tyre performance variations across the grid set the stage for an unpredictable Saturday as teams fine-tune their setups ahead of crucial qualifying sessions.