Ferrari split the Mercedes in a rain-interrupted
second practice session at the Canadian Grand
Prix.
Hamilton headed Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel despite
kerb-hopping the last chicane on what would have
been his fastest lap.
Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was also
quicker than the second Mercedes of Nico Rosberg
in fourth.
When rain hit, Hamilton slid at the hairpin, breaking
his front wing.
It was the end of an up-and-down day for the
world champion, who set the pace in both
sessions despite a spin at the hairpin in first
practice and a bounce over the kerbs on his first
flying lap on the super-soft tyres in the second
session.
Hamilton blamed the crash in the second session
on his car aquaplaning - when the wheels float on
water and the car cannot be controlled - as he
was braking.
Hamilton's crash dissuaded anyone else from
doing any running as the rain grew heavier to the
end of the session.
BBC F1 analyst Allan McNish said: "It has not been
a clean run for Lewis and these are the sort of
things than can affect a driver. Each one you can
compartmentalise but when they add up you have
to take a breath and reset, which he can do
overnight."
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said: "We wanted to
do some clutch calibration and do some starts and
just take it easy and this is how it ended.
"I think he just aquaplaned on the front and then
you remove a lot of water which is why the rear
wheels were still turning.
"I wouldn't interpret too much into it. It is just one
of those Fridays when it is difficult to get a lap
together."
Wolff admitted that Ferrari's pace on their race-
simulation runs on a heavy fuel load before the
rain hit was a concern.
Wolff said: "On the long runs they were extremely
fast and they need to be taken seriously."
Hamilton was 0.316 seconds quicker than Vettel
on headline lap times, with Raikkonen just
0.06secs adrift of his team-mate and Rosberg
0.452secs slower than the world champion.
The margin between Hamilton and Rosberg was
similar to that in the first session, when they were
first and second quicker and more than 1.5secs
clear of the Ferraris.
The rain, which came 35 minutes into the session,
led to a compressed period of running, with most
teams trying both sets of tyres and fitting in a
short run on a race fuel load before the track the
soaked.
Mercedes - or at least Hamilton - appear to retain
an edge on one-lap pace but the suggestion from
Friday's running was that an upgrade to their
engine might have moved Ferrari into a more
competitive position.
The Italian team have used three of their permitted
10 remaining engine development 'tokens' on an
upgrade to their combustion system.
Insiders say that the improvement is worth about
15bhp in overall power.
And their race simulation runs were very
impressive, with Vettel complaining that he could
run faster than Rosberg, who was running ahead of
him on track.
The lap times bore him out. Both Ferraris ran in
the one minute 18-second bracket, with Vettel on
the super-soft tyre and Raikkonen on the soft,
while the Mercedes were in the one minute 19s.
However, the gap between the two teams suggests
that Ferrari may have been running on a lighter
fuel load.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said:
"Ferrari look very strong on race-simulations.
Either they put a little less fuel in their cars or
they are seriously quick."
Behind the Mercedes and Ferraris, Lotus appear
set for a strong weekend, with Pastor Maldonado
in fifth place and Romain Grosjean in seventh,
sandwiching the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.
The Finn's team-mate Felipe Massa was eighth
ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel
Ricciardo.
Force India's Nico Hulkenberg was 11th, ahead of
the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson and Carlos Sainz's
Toro Rosso.
The fastest McLaren-Honda was only 15th in
Fernando Alonso's hands, the car 20km/h down
on the straights compared to the Mercedes.
The Spaniard's team-mate Jenson Button was
18th, 0.508secs off Alonso's pace.
McNish said Button appeared to be struggling on
corner entry with the McLaren.
"The Canadian Grand Prix has everything"
For a start, there's the location. On a
picturesque island in the middle of the
forbidding St Lawrence Seaway, a stone's throw
from downtown Montreal, one of the world's
great cities.
The place is steeped in history. The race dates
back to 1967, this specific venue to 1978,
when Quebec-born Gilles Villeneuve won the
inaugural race and created an instant national
hero out of a man who was to go on to
become one of the all-time greats. His legacy
remains in the thousands who pack the place
out every year.
And then there's the track. Apparently a simple
mix of straights and chicanes ring-fenced by
two hairpins, it is in fact deceptively difficult.
Low-grip asphalt ringed by walls waiting to
catch the unwary or careless.
Crashes are virtually guaranteed; breathless
racing action, too. Add it all up, and it's no
wonder it's one of the most popular races on
the calendar.
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