Sakhir GP: Mercedes rookie George Russell completes Friday’s double practice

George Russell continues to outperform Practice One by finishing a tenth ahead of Max Verstappen in the second session; Valtteri Bottas only 11th after having eliminated several lap times by track limits

1:22

Watch on board as George Russell set the fastest lap time in FP2 for the Sakhir GP.

George Russell stayed ahead of the rest in the second practice of the Sakhir GP to complete an incredible first day in the Mercedes, with substitute Lewis Hamilton doubling down in the fastest times on Friday to establish an unexpectedly dominant score for the remainder of the Weekend.

Russell, after leading the field in P1, set the pace again in the second most representative session around Bahrain’s fast ‘Outer’ track, circling a tenth of a second faster than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with a 54.713.

It was a perfect and remarkable start to his Mercedes debut on race weekend for Russell, who was only confirmed as Hamilton’s replacement on Wednesday and had never driven the W11 car before Friday, and a clear sign of the youngster’s prodigious talent. English when he settled to life with the world champions without a hitch.

“Just because he’s the fastest today doesn’t mean he’s the fastest tomorrow,” said Russell, who is aiming for his first Formula 1 point this weekend after two years at Williams.

3:31

Despite leading the two practice sessions on Friday, George Russell is still looking to get more out of his new Mercedes before qualifying.

As well as beating Verstappen on soft tires, Russell was also much more comfortable than Valtteri Bottas during the second session as the Finn, Hamilton’s teammate since 2017, struggled to get a lap in the other Mercedes.

Bottas, who frequently ran wide, had eliminated multiple times, faster than Russell’s, for track boundary violations en route to 11th place, 0.6 seconds off the pace.

In their surprising absence to the top of the timesheets, Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon impressed for Racing Point and Renault respectively, finishing the qualifying simulations in third and fourth place.

Alex Albon was fifth for Red Bull, who appeared faster than Mercedes in the longest races, ahead of Daniil Kvyat and Lance Stroll of AlphaTauri, the top seven divided by just four tenths in F1’s fastest lap with narrow margins. across the field.

1:08

Sebastien Vettel is having a troublesome P2 in Bahrain, as the Ferrari driver loses the rear of his car and takes another lap.

But it was a particularly disappointing second practice for Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel spun twice on his way to 16, while Charles Leclerc completed just two laps due to a driveshaft problem.

McLaren had its own reliability issues, particularly with Lando Norris in 17th place, with Carlos Sainz leading the driver in 10th behind Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly.

Russell ahead, but rivals in the hunt: qualifying ‘carnage’ predicted

Russell’s best time on P2 was perhaps a bit misleading, as Bottas had been a couple tenths quicker on his first lap on soft tires, only to be knocked out shortly after. But, as Sky F1’s Anthony Davidson noted on Russell’s first day: “He’s done a really good job. Solid, fast where he needs to be, kept him within the confines of the track.”

David Croft, meanwhile, added: “There are more things for Bottas to think negative about today than George Russell. His soft-tire laps were phased out.

“Mr. Saturday has a lot on his mind on Friday.”

2:19

Valtteri Bottas acknowledged that he had problems during practice on Friday before the Sakhir Grand Prix.

The 22-year-old, however, is wary of the threat from Red Bull in the race, while predicting a “carnage” in qualifying on Saturday.

Lap records will be broken in shootouts as F1 prepares for pole laps of less than a minute for the first time in 46 years, and a shorter distance means drivers will have a hard time finding clean air for the session. .

Qualifying begins at 5 pm on Sky Sports F1, with accumulation starting at 4 pm

With Leclerc failing to set a time, Pietro Fittipaldi and Jack Aitken propped up the timesheets at P2, although they may be satisfied with their work ahead of their F1 debut.

Fittipaldi, who replaced Romain Grosjean, was just 0.3 seconds behind his Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen, while Aitken, replacing Russell at Williams, was 0.5 seconds behind Nicholas Latifi.