Showing that Fernando Alonso’s top spot in FP1 was just a fluke, Lewis Hamilton resumed normal service with the fastest time in FP2 as Formula One got its feet well and truly under the table in Montreal.
However, in the opening 15 minutes of the session it was a different Mercedes powered machine that was on the top spot – that achievement went to Valtteri Bottas in the Williams.
Unfortunately that didn’t last long and Nico Rosberg jumped into P1, Bottas would eventually finish seventh – one place behind team mate Felipe Massa who had a much better FP2 following battery problems in the first session.
Hamilton ultimately claimed first with a time of 1:16.118 after banging in three purple sectors in a row on a gung-ho lap on the super-soft Pirellis. Nico Rosberg ended up finishing 0.18 seconds back having been the first of the front runners to do a stint on the softest tyre option.
The Ferraris were also quite brisk in this session after another thorough testing of their upgrades. While Sebastian Vettel claimed third, the Scuderia scored fourth and fifth for Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso respectively – hopefully putting them on solid ground heading into the race as well as the European leg.
Showing encouraging pace were the two McLarens with Kevin Magnussen setting a 1:17.052 and Jenson Button placing himself seven thousandths behind the Dane. That was good enough for eighth and ninth.
Of note, Jules Bianchi had another shortened session completing only three laps and hinting that the suspension he damaged in FP1 was not 100% repaired for FP2.
The same lack of running curse also struck Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat who completed nine laps and was not seen again after pitting with an unknown problem.
