Russian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Valterri Bottas confirms, Verstappen penalized

The first 20 minutes

Many drivers chose to put on medium tires at the start of the session, and in this game, Valtteri Bottas came out on top with a time of 1:35.200. At this point in the session, he was surpassed by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari equipped with the softest rubber.

Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren was stuck in the pits at the start of the session, due to a mechanical issue on the Australian’s car.

Daniel Ricciardo is yet to emerge from the garage so far in FP2

The @McLarenF1 crew are working hard on an issue with his car 👀#RussianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Tr5cBPQ5NW

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2021

A strategic game has been set up from the start of the session, several drivers like Fernando Alonso or Charles Leclerc have chosen to set good lap times on soft tires. Indeed, if the rain forecasted for tomorrow prevents the qualifying session from taking place, the times from this Free Practice 2 session will be taken into account to establish the starting grid.

Competing against Max Verstappen in the championship, Lewis Hamilton had a blank moment when entering the pit lane, missing his braking point by a small margin and slightly hitting the mechanic on the fast jack.

At midday or at half-day

During this session, we learned that a 4th engine is being used on Max Verstappen’s car, so he will start from the back of the grid this Sunday. The use of an extra engine had become unavoidable for the Dutch driver after the Silverstone accident.

BREAKING NEWS 🚨

Max Verstappen va bien changer de moteur et s’élancera en fond de grille dimanche ! #F1 #RussianGP 🇷🇺

— Motors Inside F1 (@MotorsInside) September 24, 2021

We witnessed a beautiful slip by Charles Leclerc between turns 8 and 9, finding himself almost in the middle of the track, Sergio Perez narrowly avoiding the Maranello car.

Red flag

The drivers had to return to their pits, due to a big off-track excursion by Antonio Giovinazzi in turn 9. This is not at all what his team bosses want to see as they are hesitating between the Italian driver and F2 driver Guanyu Zhou.

Antonio reports that he is ok after that clash with the barriers at Turn 9 💥

The debris from his car is being cleared #RussianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/UiBdAapmFz

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2021

The last 20 minutes

After the Tech Pro repair, the drivers were able to return to the track, at this point in the session, Valtteri Bottas still dominated the timesheet (1:33.593) followed by Lewis Hamilton (+0.044), Pierre Gasly (+0.252), and Lando Norris (+0.561).

The drivers pushed their cars to their limits, causing beautiful slides and wheel lock-ups, like Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, and Mick Schumacher.

Lando slipping and sliding in Sochi 👀

But it’s been a good FP2 for him so far – he’s P4 on the charts with just over five minutes to go ⏱️#RussianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/pFVhWNgzx0

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2021

We also witnessed the front wing of Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri breaking as it went over the speed bump at turn 2.

Under the checkered flag, once again it’s Valtteri Bottas who sits at the top of the timesheet, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly. Let’s keep in mind that rain will be present tomorrow and that this FP2 result could be the starting order for Sunday’s Grand Prix!

The ranking of the second free practice session