George Russell, continuing the impressive start to his Mercedes debut at the Sakhir Grand Prix, led Friday’s second straight session in Free Practice 2, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen once again finished second, ahead of Racing Point of Sergio Perez.
It was difficult for any driver to get a fairly clean lap around the 3.5.k km Baran International Circuit Outer Track, which is only 2.5 km from Monaco. But once the qualifying simulations were completed, it was Russell who led the time sheets in FP1, with a turnout of 54,713 – the tenth-slowest to manage in some weekend opening sessions.
Read more: Sakhir GP not to shoot out between Russell and Bottas for 2022 Mercedes seat
Voltaire Bottas did not gain access to three-tenths of his team-mates in FP1 – and on paper, his FP2 performance was worse, Finn finished in P11, and did not see ease around short circuit configurations.
But, on his two qualifying simulation laps the track limit was exceeded at turn 8 and from where he canceled the skulls or deleted them, Botas will be hoping to reverse the situation on Saturday, with the P11 time set on hard tires at the start of the season.
|
. George Russell Russia Mercedes |
54,713 |
|
2 Max Worstapen VER Red Bull Racing |
+ 0.128s |
|
3 Sergio Perez To Racing points |
+ 0.153s |
|
4 Esteban Oaken OCO Reno |
+ 0.227s |
|
5 Alexander Alban ALB Red Bull Racing |
+ 0.323s |
Behind Russell, Versatapen was 0.128 seconds ahead, with Dutchman and his fifth-ranked Red Bull teammate Alex Alban complaining of an understair on his RB16. Perez took Worstapen an impressive third in just 0.025, while a strong turn from Esteban O’Connor put him on the P4, indicating that Renault will have more time this weekend with the required downforce set-up.
Albany was followed by Daniel Cavat’s Alfatouri in fifth place, the first day for the Russian and his team when he saw Lance Stroll’s second racing point and Daniel Riccardo’s second Renault finish with Poon Gasley and Carlos’ leading McLaren. Signs – who complained of a lack of synchronization on his gears through his long-term simulation – in P9 and P10, Gasley faced fear in the final moments of the session after a painful attack on a finger by some flying pebbles.
As happened in iPen – another practice in Sakhir
Behind Bottas’ time for 11th, Kimi R રikkનnen was 12th behind his Alfa Romeo teammate Antonio Giovinazzi – two Ferrari-powered cars with a fast Sakhir GP. The track was seen experimenting with vehicles at the start of the season – while Haas’s Kevin Magnussen was 14th ahead of Nicole Lutfi’s Williams.
Meanwhile, Friday night was a session to forget about Ferrari. Sebastian Vett finished 16th, spinning early in turn 2, then in his first flying saucer in qualifying simulations, spinning dramatically again in front of Magnuson on turn 5, then running wide on the second. At least his car was working, however, teammate Charles Lakelack only had a driveshaft issue after two skulls, and failed to set a time.
2020 Sakhir Grand Prix FP2: Vettel spins on turn 2
Meanwhile, like his team-mate, Lando Norris was having problems, running on a curb and damaging his floor as early as possible, forcing his McLaren team to repair it, then sending him back into the pit before suffering from the issue. Was. Fourth at the Bahrain Grand Prix five days ago – Britain finished in the P17, two ahead of the F1, Haas’s Petro Fittipaldi and Williams’ Jack Itken, both of whom kept their noses clean in the FP2, while time was short-sighted. Is.
Read more: Is it a Red Bull meeting or a year on the bench for Alban in 2021, says Horner
So, it’s an impressive opening in a Mercedes from George Russell. But despite a closer look at the Red Bull Silver Arrow, Bottas hasn’t really shown his true pace, and given us a sense of how exciting qualifying can be through FP2, he still has to play in Bahrain.
