Hamilton, who won his maiden grand prix in Montreal last year, posted a quickest lap of one minute 15.752 seconds during the second 90-minute long session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Fresh from a victory in Monaco two week ago which propelled him into the lead of the World Championship, Hamilton had completed only eight laps during Friday morning's first practice session.

He was then sixth fastest in his McLaren Mercedes as Massa went quickest with a lap timed at 1:17.553s around the 2.71-mile track.

Hamilton started the afternoon session moderately, and was lying fifth fastest before upping his pace.

A time of 1:15.766s knocked World Champion Kimi Raikkonen off the top spot before the McLaren man went quicker still on his 42nd and last lap.

Raikkonen, three points behind Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship heading into Sunday's race, was then supplanted by BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, the Monaco runner-up, who continued his good form with a fastest lap of 1:16.023s.

The Pole had also been second quickest behind Massa in the morning's session on a track that had dried out following overnight rain.

Raikonnen had been last out of the pits and vied with team-mate Massa for much of the afternoon's session, with the Finn clocking a fastest 1:16.093s for what would be the third fastest time.

Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was fourth fastest with a 1:16.331s effort, with Massa next (1:16.413s) despite coming to a stop out on the track with 20 minutes remaining.

Nick Heidfeld rounded off the top six for BMW Sauber with a time of 1:16.589s.

But the second session was a bad one for Renault, with Nelson Piquet Jr. grinding to a halt as he entered the pit lane, while team-mate Fernando Alonso spun off the track at Turn One and proved unable to get going again.

The pair ended the afternoon in 17th and 20th positions respectively.

Timo Glock was another early finisher, brushing one of the walls and damaging the right wheels on his Toyota, forcing him to abandon the car at Turn Six.

Massa was the next to stop, his premature finish affecting the whole field as marshals struggled to steer his Ferrari through a gap in the safety barriers.

When the session resumed, Hamilton proceeded to turn in his quickest laps ahead of Saturday's final practice and qualifying sessions for Sunday's race.

source : http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12433_3659132,00.html