Mercedes’ George Russell has urged caution after he topped FP2 in a “positive” practice session on Friday for the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix.
Russell finished fourth in FP1, but managed to come through in FP2 as just one of three drivers to set their fastest laps on the medium tyre in that session.
The 27-year-old Briton, however, urged caution despite the “nice” feeling of getting through FP2 on a “positive day” where “the cooler temperatures and smoother asphalt” suited the Silver Arrows, as he felt his lap time could be deceiving with the McLaren expected to challenge come qualifying.
“I managed to put together a strong lap in FP2 and probably optimised the car we had. That might have flattered us a little bit, but we hope to be in the mix with the usual suspects for the rest of the weekend.”
Russell also noted the minimal difference between the soft and medium tyres which could open up a variety of tyre strategies to qualify.
“It will be interesting to see what the tyre strategy is in qualifying. With the C6 compound, the gap between the soft and medium over a single lap is not as pronounced as it is when on the harder end of the compound range.
“Many teams, including ourselves, have opted to run just a single set of medium tyres today, so have the option to deploy that tomorrow.”
Mercedes engineering director Andrew Shovlin echoed Russell’s thoughts on how close qualifying could be with McLaren and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen expected to challenge despite his struggles in FP2.
“While today has been good by recent standards, it is clear that some cars could be in contention at the front in qualifying.”
