More trouble for Verstappen + Alonso tops Canada Friday

Fernando Alonso ended the Formula 1 practice day for the Canadian Grand Prix on top while Max Verstappen ran into trouble.

FP2 addresses

– Alonso is fastest for only the second time in 2024
– A fire near Verstappen's car
– Rain prevents Sims from racing
– Leclerc is under investigation

Verstappen missed the majority of the session after what appeared to be a fire hampered his running. He had to return his RB20 to the pits less than 25 minutes into the session for Red Bull to diagnose the problem.

This investigation included a wall of Red Bull employees at the front of the team's garage, blocking the view of the viewing world on the convertible. The team reported that it was an ERS issue.

Verstappen did not return to the track and finished 18th fastest.

All the teams were desperate to get some dry running on track at the resurgent Montreal circuit after the FP1 trial was essentially a failure.

It was raining at the start of FP2 but that did not stop the majority of the field participants from taking to the track on slick tyres.

Lando Norris' FP1 standard of 1:24.435 seconds – the fastest in late FP1 – was beaten by Pierre Gasly's Alpine within 10 minutes of the second practice.

After that, the times fell further and further, and despite more rain, Alonso, the Aston Martin driver, was able to cut the gap to 1 minute 17.835 seconds after 20 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Alonso scored one minute and 15.810 seconds, before rain sent everyone back to the pitlane.

It took another 10 minutes for another car to appear with Esteban Ocon going out at the break but track conditions did not improve enough after that to bother anyone of Alonso's standard.

Alonso's time in this year's FP2 – the first time he has topped a practice session since the FP2 in Jeddah three months ago – was still two seconds less than Lewis Hamilton's benchmark in FP2 last year.

Leclerc had an eventful session. He will face a post-session investigation for running the medium tires before the track was officially declared wet in the first five minutes of the session, and at the other end of the session, he spun at the hairpin on the medium tyres. It placed fourth in the media category behind the top three in soft materials.

George Russell was second for Mercedes, four tenths of a second behind Alonso, while Lance Stroll made the two Aston Martins round out the top three.

Behind Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen, Lewis Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten.