F1-EL2: Alonso shines in the dry in Montreal

After a first session contested mainly on a wet track, the afternoon allowed the drivers to advance their preparation for the Canadian Grand Prix contested on the Montreal circuit. The drivers only tested the experimental tires at the very start of the session before switching back to the medium tires and rediscovering the super softs on the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. The end of the session was as usual focused on the long stints with both types of rubber, the red sidewall tires seeming to offer good longevity. The teams took advantage of the dry conditions to complete a series of laps, with the weather forecast predicting further showers for Saturday.

Fernando Alonso set the best time of the day with a lap time of 1'14"818. The Asturian is regaining confidence since he also had a very good pace during his long stints with the super soft tires. Lewis Hamilton is closest to the pilot Ferrari finishing just 12 thousandths behind. Romain Grosjean follows by two tenths, clearly ahead of his teammate Kimi Räikkönen who had a more difficult day. The Lotus driver returned to the pits during his final stint after noticing a problem with the brake pedal. The Finn is only in 11th place.

Mark Webber places first Red Bull in fourth position. The Australian is ahead of a group of drivers four tenths behind. Nico Rosberg thus completes the top five ahead of Felipe Massa and Felipe Massa. Adrian Sutil is the first driver more than half a second behind. Jenson Button and Daniel Ricciardo complete the top ten, the Briton having encountered gearbox problems during the session. Sergio Pérez, 12th behind Kimi Räikkönen, is the last driver within the same second as the reference time. Jean-Eric Vergne ranks 15th behind Paul di Resta and Pastor Maldonado, the Frenchman falling significantly behind his teammate. The Sauber drivers are at the bottom of the standings behind Pastor Maldonado. Nico Hulkenberg, 18th, is only a few tenths ahead of Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic.

The last practice session will be contested from 10 a.m. (16 p.m. in France).