Hamilton crashes at the Canadian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes is towed following a crash into the wall after it slid at the track

Lewis is back with a bang. Bouncing back from his disappointing loss at Monaco, Hamilton drove through torrential rain in Montreal to set the fastest pace in free practice. Dealing with a torrential downpour, Hamilton spun out of control at one point during the first session, and a kerb bounce at the last chicane, notorious for tripping up several World Champions – but still maintained his lead at the end of the second practice.

Hamilton’s Mercedes aquaplaned – which is when the vehicle skids on water and spins out of the driver's control as the wheels ‘float’ on the surface of the water and cause the car to drift. Intensifying rain led to the conclusion of the second practice session.

Luckily, Hamilton was completely unscathed, walking away from the crash which led to the front wing of his Mercedes being seriously damaged.

The general order of this year’s F1 season was disturbed, with less domination by the Silver Arrows than before. Both Ferraris were faster than Hamilton’s teammate Rosberg, with Sebastian Vettel in second, a third of a second behind Hamilton, with the Iceman only tenths of seconds behind his German teammate.

Results following the curtailed second practice session were a departure from the ordinary: in a shock outcome, immediately behind the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg was Lotus’ embattled driver Pastor Maldonado, who also had the benefit of Mercedes’ upgraded power units, as Lotus runs on Mercedes engines. In the same vein, teammate Romain Grosjean and Williams’ Felipe Massa also did well at the track.

The top 10, following the rainy conclusion of practice at the Canadian Grand Prix, were rounded off by the Red Bulls – Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo in 9^th and 10^th respectively.