Canadian F1 Grand Prix 2017 Qualifying: Kimi Raikkonen Tops Second Practice

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen topped an eventful second practice at the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix on Friday.

While drivers struggled to find grip at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Raikkonen was able to put in a brilliant time of one minute, 12.935 seconds. He finished more than two tenths of a second ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, while fellow Ferrari man Sebastian Vettel was a shade back in third spot.

In the first session it was Hamilton who topped the pile ahead of Vettel and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Below are the results in full from Friday and a closer look back an an interesting day’s driving from Canada.

FP2 Recap

The Formula One Twitter feed provided us with the results of the second session, with Raikkonen on top for Ferrari:

While all eyes were on the timing sheets, the theme of the second practice was drivers failing to cope with the conditions in Canada.

In the first session, plenty of the drivers said on radio they felt as though steering was heavy, and that was proved in FP2, as so many cars ended up facing the wrong way.

That included the Ferrari pair of Raikkonen and Vettel, as well as Bottas in the Mercedes. Given it’s still early days in the grand prix, the team will be hoping to see the track pick up some more grip as we move closer to Sunday’s race.

The teams were jesting about the mistakes on social media, as we can see below:

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo may have avoided any spins, but that was only because he was in the garage for FP2 with an engine problem. Max Verstappen also had to stop his car on the track late in the session with smoke billowing out of the back, making for a forgettable afternoon for the team.

Given the errors being made, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see the drivers be a little more reserved in the afternoon. Raikkonen was able to capitalise, beating his team-mate with a time of 1:12.935.

As noted by the Sky Sports F1 Twitter feed, the Finn wasn’t happy about some photographers getting a little too close to the track during FP2:

All cars were on circuit in the final stages of the session seeking to gain some time, and the biggest mover was Fernando Alonso, who did wonderfully to get his troubled McLaren up into seventh position.

FP1 Recap

Below are the results of the first practice run, which saw Hamilton set the early pace, per the F1 Twitter account:

In the early stages of the session, as is common, there were some teams utilising some unusual equipment. Some of the bodywork on Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull was the most striking, per Sky Sports F1:

After the initial runs, it was Mercedes who were quickest, although there was little to separate the Silver Arrows and the Ferraris.

Hamilton and Bottas then opted to put on the ultrasoft compound and were chopping down their times lap after lap. It was the former who moved to the top of the timesheets with a benchmark of 1:13.809.

As we can see, courtesy of F1 journalist Gianlu D'Alessandro, some of the braver Canadian wildlife were getting a little too close to the action midway through the session:

In the meantime, Ferrari were not quite as active, with Vettel and Raikkonen biding their time in the pits. When Force India's Sergio Perez moved up into third position, that was the trigger for the Scuderia to make their move.

They were unable to usurp Hamilton, though. Vettel was a couple of tenths down on the Mercedes man, while Raikkonen nestled in behind his compatriot in fourth.

Dan Istitene/Getty Images

On his return to McLaren after his jaunt to the Indy 500, Alonso would have been keen to get off to a good start. However, as we can see here, the Spaniard had another session to forget:

As the session dwindled towards a close, there were no great intentions from the top teams to push the time down, with Hamilton the only driver in the top four out on track in the final stages. The Briton will be pleased with the pace showcased by his team in FP1.