MONTREAL – Britain’s Lewis Hamilton looks like he’s ready for another double – pole position and race victory – at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The defending champion has won four times at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, three from pole. He set the quickest lap in both practice sessions Friday in his Mercedes AMG on the tight, 4.361-kilometre track.
“It’s been a great day,” said Hamilton. “But we shall see.”
There will be one last practice for teams to test their tires and engines before qualifying Saturday but, so far, Hamilton is looking like the driver to beat. His best lap of one minute 14.212 seconds
was quicker than the time he won pole position with a year ago.
Hamilton went off the track a few times, which he said is normal when testing the car’s limits. But he stayed clear of the dreaded Wall of Champions, which looms as drivers brake heavily after a long straightaway at the final chicane before the start-finish line.
“The last turn is a nightmare,” he said. “You come in at 200-plus miles per hour and then brake. I was near to it a couple of times today and managed to stay out of it.”
The question going into the seventh stop on the F1 tour was whether a recent surge by the Red Bull team and Ferrari’s continued progress pose a threat to Mercedes’ three-year dominance.
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Hamilton’s time suggests the defending F1 champion retains a clear lead, but Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari managed to split the two Mercedes, finishing just ahead of Formula One leader Nico Rosberg. That was followed by a large pack all within one second of each other led by the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and 2014 Canadian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo.
“Mercedes looked strong,” said Ricciardo. “Their long-run pace was probably more impressive than their short-run pace. That’s where we need to improve. Our long runs can be better for both me and Max. If we can do a few things, and Sunday the weather could change, maybe something can happen again.”
Cool, wet weather is forecast for the race Sunday.
The 18-year-old Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull from the Toro Rossi squad last month and won his first race with the big team in Barcelona. But he crashed two weeks ago in Monaco.
Ricciardo looked to be cruising to victory in Monaco, but was done in by a poor pit stop, handing Hamilton his first win of the year.
“We can still find some speed overnight,” the Australian said. “We can improve from where we are.”
Hamilton posted his first F1 victory in Montreal in 2007 and won here again in 2010, 2012 and last year, leaving him alone in second place, three short of Michael Schumacher’s record of seven Canadian wins. A pole position Saturday would leave him only one behind Schumacher’s record of six.
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It was warm and dry on the track, which Rosberg said “had a lot of grip, which is surprising” for a usually slippery circuit.
Williams driver Felipe Massa got out for the second practice despite heavy damage to his car in a morning incident. He lost his back end on the first turn as he spun into a barrier. The Brazilian was unhurt. The team said Massa’s drag reduction system failed to close “causing him to lose the rear wing under braking.”
Massa is in his eighth Canadian Grand Prix, most of any driver on the grid. His best time of the day was 13th at 1:15.513.
Verstappen was reprimanded for going unnecessarily slow in front of Williams driver Valtteri Bottas at the apex of a chicane in the morning session.
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