Canadian Grand Prix – Practice

Tyre compounds this weekend: prime is soft (yellow band) and option is super-soft (red band).

Practice 1
SP is in the Sauber, having recovered from his accident at Monaco two weeks ago
JT hits a bird: Lotus 1, bird 0
SV clips the kerb and stuffs the Red Bull into the Wall of Champions, bringing out the red flag
BBC report that LH has no display (on his steering wheel) so he’s having to change gear on instinct
BBC get confirmation from McLaren that JB’s DRS has been “dismantled” and is out of use
Fastest was NR (1:15.591) followed by FA, MS, FM, LH, JB, RB, PD

Practice 2
SP isn’t feeling 100% so Sauber have put Pedro de la Rosa in the car instead (I’m already using PD for Paul Di Resta, so I’ll use PdlR for Pedro)
JA is first on track for Practice 2
JA 1:21.955
PD 1:20.038
NH 1:17.499
NH 1:17.037
SV 1:15.739
FM gets very close to the Wall of Champions but doesn’t make contact
SV 1:15.476
30mins gone = 60mins left of Practice 2
PdlR hasn’t set a lap time yet – the team are still modifying the Sauber after the driver change
Huge lock-up for VP – that’ll leave a major flat spot on his front right
FA 1:15.205
AS ran wide, smacked his front left into the wall and broke the suspension – that’s the end of Practice 2 for him
KK took too much kerb and slams his Sauber into the wall – that’s made a major mess of the car – he’s OK but the session is red flagged (suspended) with just over 30mins left
The Sauber team had just got the other car ready for PdlR but now they’ve got their hands full again
Session restarts 10mins after the incident
JD has hit the same wall that KK just hit – almost in the same spot – another red flag!
Looks like LH picked up a puncture, presumably from debris from JD’s Virgin
Session restarts with just under 15mins left of Practice 2
Speed commentators report that the flailing tyre carcass has caused some damage to the floor of LH’s McLaren
FA 1:15.107
2mins left
FA out of shape in the hairpin
Session ended
Fastest was FA (1:15.107) followed by SV, FM, LH, JB, PD, MW, VP
The mechanics will be busy at Force India, Sauber and Virgin after those accidents – hopefully they can get the cars rebuilt in time for final Practice tomorrow morning.