Motorsports
Formula 1, GP Canada: Ferstappen and Leclerc separated by 81 mm in the second Canada test
Max Ferstappen, who set the fastest time at the Montreal Jill Villeneuve Circuit, stayed in the lead on the second lap of the Canadian GP Freestyle, but this time Charles Leclerc closed him by 0.081s.
The two title contenders set their fastest laps on a set of fresh soft tyres, followed by Carlos Saint by two tenths – but from there and back there were surprises from the two old champions.
Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso finished fourth and fifth, closing in on the top 3 and 4 tenths respectively with the much improved Montreal Aston Martin AMR22 and Alpine A522 respectively. Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gusli completed the top six.
Indeed, the improvement in mid-tier teams in Canada over the past three days is evident with seven different teams in the top eight, with Mercedes’ George Russell in seventh and McLaren’s Lando Norris in eighth – separated by 0.86 seconds.
Positioned 11th in Canada, Sergio Perez doesn’t seem to have found the perfect arrangements that have made him the leader in recent GPs, at least not even with the soft rubber.
Later, in 13th place, Lewis Hamilton was nearly half a second off Russell in the other Mercedes W13, although the 37-year-old didn’t have the trial soil in the second tests that he had used in the first – which had a big notch and Lewis admitted he didn’t live up to expectations.
The reliability problems of Valteri Botas’ Alfa Romeo continued and the Finn failed to set a fast lap despite coming onto the track three times while Gasley, Vettel and Lance Stroll are being investigated by the judges for failing during the Tests have skipped one of the curves.
Source: sport 24
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.