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Lewis Hamilton admitted he is ‘feeling the improvements’ to his Mercedes car after setting the pace in second practice at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The opening running of the weekend was abandoned following an embarrassing CCTV failure at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

But the problem was fixed to allow an extended 90-minute second session later in the day and it was Hamilton who topped the time sheets with Mercedes team-mate George Russell second.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished third ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and his team-mate Charles Leclerc, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ended the day in sixth position.

Hamilton finished runner-up to Verstappen at the last round in Spain a fortnight ago in his revamped Mercedes machine.

And the seven-time world champion, who finished 0.027 seconds clear of Russell in the other Mercedes, said: “The car didn’t feel bad but there is work to do. I can only compare the car to last year and it is massively better than last year. 

“The car is a step forward and I am definitely feeling the improvements.”

Rain is forecast for Saturday’s qualifying session and could also play a part in Sunday’s 70-lap race.