Oscar Piastri sets unwanted season first as George Russell leads British one-two

George Russell put himself in contention for back-to-back pole positions in the Canadian Grand Prix as F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri set an unwanted first this season.

It was a session missing Charles Leclerc after the Monégasque destroyed the left-hand side of his Ferrari after 15 minutes of FP1. It was confirmed before FP2 that a new chassis was required, leaving him looking on at his 19 rivals taking part in the session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Ultimately, it was last year's polesitter Russell who led the way, suggesting he could be in contention for a repeat of his form from a year ago, with the Mercedes driver edging McLaren's Lando Norris by 0.028s with a leading time of 1:12.123s, and on the medium tyre compared to his fellow Briton on the soft.

Further indicating Mercedes is in the reckoning, Russell's team-mate Kimi Antonelli was third quickest, 0.288s off the pace on softs. The Italian was followed by Williams' Alex Albon, who was second quickest in FP1, and who may yet be a wildcard come qualifying.

There was another surprise with Fernando Alonso fifth on the timesheet, a ray of light for Aston Martin after Lance Stroll crashed out early in the session.

As for Piastri, he was a lowly sixth. It was the first time this season the Australian had failed to finish in the top three in FP2. 

Unusual Friday for McLaren

It was an unusual Friday for championship leaders McLaren, who were off the pace for long periods until Norris thrust himself into P2 late on the soft-tyre runs.

In FP1, the team tested a new front wing on Piastri's car, only for the championship leader to finish 14th, with Norris seventh. It was the first time this season a McLaren driver had not featured in the top three in a practice session.

Reverting to its original wing for FP2, McLaren used a new suspension on Norris' car, with the Briton's time at least indicating it will be the one to use going forward for the remainder of the weekend.

Piastri had to settle for sixth on the timesheet, 0.439s behind Russell, and 0.411s adrift of Norris.

Early on, as the track action ramped up, and in ideal conditions, it did not take long for Max Verstappen's leading time from FP1 of 1:13.193s to be beaten.

That was not before Stroll joined Leclerc on the sidelines after running wide and brushing a wall with less than six minutes on the clock.

At considerable speed, however, on the exit of Turn 7, the 'brush' was enough to break the suspensio and wishbones on the front-left. Initially, Stroll attempted to return to the pits, and over the radio, he expressed confidence he could do so.

The home hero, however, was ordered by his race engineer, Gary Gannon, to pull over in a safe place and stop, otherwise, Stroll was in danger of being penalised for driving the car in an unsafe condition.

Stroll carried on to the hairpin, where he found an escape route to allow his car to be attended to by the marshals. That left him bottom of the standings without a time to his name.

After that, Russell took control of proceedings, becoming the first driver to dip below 73 seconds with a lap of 1:12.887s. That was followed soon after by a 1:12.602s.

There were challengers to Russell as the clock ticked by before he improved again to a 1:12.123s, just 0.123s off his pole position of last year, albeit with the new-for-this-season C6 tyre - the softest in Pirelli's range - being used for the first time at this track. 

It is fair to suggest Russell's pole time from last year of 1:12.000s, with Verstappen equalling it but second on the grid as the Briton posted his time first, will be beaten on Saturday.

Williams' Carlos Sainz was 0.508s adrift in seventh, followed by Lewis Hamilton in the sole Ferrari in action, then Verstappen, 0.543s down, with the Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadajar 10th and 11th.

As for Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull, it was another unhappy outing, with the Japanese 15th, 0.816s adrift.

Alpine's Franco Colapinto was the slowest of the 18 drivers to set a time, 1.775s down. The Argentinian was involved in a humorous moment after 25 minutes when, as he did early in FP1, he spun out of Turn 1 and into Turn 2.

Facing the wrong way and waiting for a moment to spin his car in the opposite direction, he was met by team-mate Pierre Gasly as the Frenchman made his way onto the track.