Russell on top in Canadian GP second practice
George Russell set the pace for Mercedes in the second Canadian Grand Prix practice after Red Bull's Formula One champion Max Verstappen led the opening session at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc sat out the later session after crashing in the first, leaving mechanics plenty of work to repair the car.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, who missed the previous race in Spain due to hand and wrist pain, crashed at turn seven in second practice for his home grand prix and smashed the front left suspension.
Russell's time of one minute 12.123 seconds compared to Verstappen's earlier afternoon effort of 1:13.193.
The pair qualified on the front row last year with identical times, with Russell on pole but Verstappen going on to win the race for a third year in a row.
They also clashed in Spain two weekends ago, with Verstappen left on the brink of a ban after driving into the Mercedes.
The Dutch driver was only ninth in Friday's second practice, behind Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, with McLaren's Lando Norris the closest to Russell and only 0.028 slower.
"The car is jumping like crazy in the rear, like the ride is terrible," reported Verstappen over the radio.
Mercedes' strong form was emphasised by Russell's rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli setting the third best time, 0.288 off the pace.
Runaway championship leaders McLaren had made a comparatively slow start to the weekend until Norris's lap, with Australian Oscar Piastri seventh and sixth and testing upgrades including a new front wing.
Piastri, who leads Norris by 10 points after nine of the season's 24 rounds, received a 100 euros ($A178) fine for speeding in the pitlane in the first practice as the team tested upgrades including a new front wing.
Williams' Alex Albon was second and fourth in the sessions, but strangely missed his garage when pitting in the second and had to go around again, with teammate Carlos Sainz third and seventh.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso ended the day fifth.
Leclerc brought out the red flags when he hit the wall at the second chicane with 45 minutes remaining, causing extensive damage to his Ferrari. Ferrari said the survival cell needed to be replaced.
George Russell set the pace for Mercedes in the second Canadian Grand Prix practice after Red Bull's Formula One champion Max Verstappen led the opening session at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc sat out the later session after crashing in the first, leaving mechanics plenty of work to repair the car.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, who missed the previous race in Spain due to hand and wrist pain, crashed at turn seven in second practice for his home grand prix and smashed the front left suspension.
Russell's time of one minute 12.123 seconds compared to Verstappen's earlier afternoon effort of 1:13.193.
The pair qualified on the front row last year with identical times, with Russell on pole but Verstappen going on to win the race for a third year in a row.
They also clashed in Spain two weekends ago, with Verstappen left on the brink of a ban after driving into the Mercedes.
The Dutch driver was only ninth in Friday's second practice, behind Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, with McLaren's Lando Norris the closest to Russell and only 0.028 slower.
"The car is jumping like crazy in the rear, like the ride is terrible," reported Verstappen over the radio.
Mercedes' strong form was emphasised by Russell's rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli setting the third best time, 0.288 off the pace.
Runaway championship leaders McLaren had made a comparatively slow start to the weekend until Norris's lap, with Australian Oscar Piastri seventh and sixth and testing upgrades including a new front wing.
Piastri, who leads Norris by 10 points after nine of the season's 24 rounds, received a 100 euros ($A178) fine for speeding in the pitlane in the first practice as the team tested upgrades including a new front wing.
Williams' Alex Albon was second and fourth in the sessions, but strangely missed his garage when pitting in the second and had to go around again, with teammate Carlos Sainz third and seventh.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso ended the day fifth.
Leclerc brought out the red flags when he hit the wall at the second chicane with 45 minutes remaining, causing extensive damage to his Ferrari. Ferrari said the survival cell needed to be replaced.
George Russell set the pace for Mercedes in the second Canadian Grand Prix practice after Red Bull's Formula One champion Max Verstappen led the opening session at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc sat out the later session after crashing in the first, leaving mechanics plenty of work to repair the car.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, who missed the previous race in Spain due to hand and wrist pain, crashed at turn seven in second practice for his home grand prix and smashed the front left suspension.
Russell's time of one minute 12.123 seconds compared to Verstappen's earlier afternoon effort of 1:13.193.
The pair qualified on the front row last year with identical times, with Russell on pole but Verstappen going on to win the race for a third year in a row.
They also clashed in Spain two weekends ago, with Verstappen left on the brink of a ban after driving into the Mercedes.
The Dutch driver was only ninth in Friday's second practice, behind Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, with McLaren's Lando Norris the closest to Russell and only 0.028 slower.
"The car is jumping like crazy in the rear, like the ride is terrible," reported Verstappen over the radio.
Mercedes' strong form was emphasised by Russell's rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli setting the third best time, 0.288 off the pace.
Runaway championship leaders McLaren had made a comparatively slow start to the weekend until Norris's lap, with Australian Oscar Piastri seventh and sixth and testing upgrades including a new front wing.
Piastri, who leads Norris by 10 points after nine of the season's 24 rounds, received a 100 euros ($A178) fine for speeding in the pitlane in the first practice as the team tested upgrades including a new front wing.
Williams' Alex Albon was second and fourth in the sessions, but strangely missed his garage when pitting in the second and had to go around again, with teammate Carlos Sainz third and seventh.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso ended the day fifth.
Leclerc brought out the red flags when he hit the wall at the second chicane with 45 minutes remaining, causing extensive damage to his Ferrari. Ferrari said the survival cell needed to be replaced.
George Russell set the pace for Mercedes in the second Canadian Grand Prix practice after Red Bull's Formula One champion Max Verstappen led the opening session at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc sat out the later session after crashing in the first, leaving mechanics plenty of work to repair the car.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, who missed the previous race in Spain due to hand and wrist pain, crashed at turn seven in second practice for his home grand prix and smashed the front left suspension.
Russell's time of one minute 12.123 seconds compared to Verstappen's earlier afternoon effort of 1:13.193.
The pair qualified on the front row last year with identical times, with Russell on pole but Verstappen going on to win the race for a third year in a row.
They also clashed in Spain two weekends ago, with Verstappen left on the brink of a ban after driving into the Mercedes.
The Dutch driver was only ninth in Friday's second practice, behind Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, with McLaren's Lando Norris the closest to Russell and only 0.028 slower.
"The car is jumping like crazy in the rear, like the ride is terrible," reported Verstappen over the radio.
Mercedes' strong form was emphasised by Russell's rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli setting the third best time, 0.288 off the pace.
Runaway championship leaders McLaren had made a comparatively slow start to the weekend until Norris's lap, with Australian Oscar Piastri seventh and sixth and testing upgrades including a new front wing.
Piastri, who leads Norris by 10 points after nine of the season's 24 rounds, received a 100 euros ($A178) fine for speeding in the pitlane in the first practice as the team tested upgrades including a new front wing.
Williams' Alex Albon was second and fourth in the sessions, but strangely missed his garage when pitting in the second and had to go around again, with teammate Carlos Sainz third and seventh.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso ended the day fifth.
Leclerc brought out the red flags when he hit the wall at the second chicane with 45 minutes remaining, causing extensive damage to his Ferrari. Ferrari said the survival cell needed to be replaced.
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The Brumbies' quest to end a 0-20 record suffered a major setback with Wallabies No.10 Lolesio departing just 10 minutes in after an accidental head-knock while making a tackle. His replacement, Jack Debreczeni, who has hardly played this Super season, did an admirable job but the Brumbies still missed their chief playmaker, who is shifting his career to Japan. The Canberra outfit were well in the hunt at halftime, only trailing 19-12, with hooker Billy Pollard rumbling across and winger Corey Toole scoring the first of his two tries off a Debreczeni cross-field kick. The home side's points came from Emoni Narawa with the winger catching the defence offside with a quick pick and go. But the Brumbies' penalty count was already double the Chiefs, including one after the halftime hooter which McKenzie slotted. While the Brumbies scored first in the second half, with Toole bumping off McKenzie en route to a brilliant individual try to get within two, Narawa hit straight back for his second. The ACT side were unable to add to their tally while two McKenzie penalties and the No.10 offloading to Josh Jacomb sealed a dominant win. Because they lost their qualifying final to the Blues, the table-topping Chiefs must play the grand final in Christchurch, with the Crusaders beating the Blues 21-14 in the other semi-final. The Chiefs last faced the Crusaders in the 2023 grand final, losing 25-20, after also beating the Brumbies in the semis. McKenzie praised his team's composure to again put the leading Australian side to the sword. "Outstanding performance from the lads," he said. "Brumbies come out of the box fast, like we knew they would, and just loved the way we were really composed to stick to our game. "It's never easy playing the Brumbies boys, they've been outstanding all year so to come away with that one and obviously get ourselves into a final, I'm stoked." Australia's wait for a Super Rugby Pacific finals winner in New Zealand continues after the ACT Brumbies crashed 37-17 to the Chiefs in Hamilton, with playmaker Noah Lolesio an early casualty. Playing in their fourth successive semi-final, the gallant Brumbies again missed a grand final berth while the Chiefs will play in their third straight title decider, taking on the Crusaders next Saturday. No Australian team have ever won a final across the Tasman, with the Brumbies following Queensland out of the competition after the Reds were beaten by the Crusaders in the qualifying final. Skipper Allan Alaalatoa lamented another finals four exit for his team. "What we spoke about all week is that we had to play close to a perfect game to come out here and get the result, and, yeah, we probably saw there in the second half that accuracy let us down, and off the back of that probably our discipline as well," the Wallabies prop said. While it was three tries a piece, penalties proved a killer for the visitors, who tallied 11 to the Chiefs' seven. All Blacks sharp-shooter Damian McKenzie booted six penalty goals as well as two conversions and set up the Chiefs' third try in a starring performance. The flyhalf also pulled off a miracle tackle in the 65th minute, getting his hand under the ball to deny a Brumbies fullback Tom Wright a certain try to stall any chance of a fightback. The Brumbies' quest to end a 0-20 record suffered a major setback with Wallabies No.10 Lolesio departing just 10 minutes in after an accidental head-knock while making a tackle. His replacement, Jack Debreczeni, who has hardly played this Super season, did an admirable job but the Brumbies still missed their chief playmaker, who is shifting his career to Japan. The Canberra outfit were well in the hunt at halftime, only trailing 19-12, with hooker Billy Pollard rumbling across and winger Corey Toole scoring the first of his two tries off a Debreczeni cross-field kick. The home side's points came from Emoni Narawa with the winger catching the defence offside with a quick pick and go. But the Brumbies' penalty count was already double the Chiefs, including one after the halftime hooter which McKenzie slotted. While the Brumbies scored first in the second half, with Toole bumping off McKenzie en route to a brilliant individual try to get within two, Narawa hit straight back for his second. The ACT side were unable to add to their tally while two McKenzie penalties and the No.10 offloading to Josh Jacomb sealed a dominant win. Because they lost their qualifying final to the Blues, the table-topping Chiefs must play the grand final in Christchurch, with the Crusaders beating the Blues 21-14 in the other semi-final. The Chiefs last faced the Crusaders in the 2023 grand final, losing 25-20, after also beating the Brumbies in the semis. McKenzie praised his team's composure to again put the leading Australian side to the sword. "Outstanding performance from the lads," he said. "Brumbies come out of the box fast, like we knew they would, and just loved the way we were really composed to stick to our game. "It's never easy playing the Brumbies boys, they've been outstanding all year so to come away with that one and obviously get ourselves into a final, I'm stoked."
