EL 2 – Bottas and Hamilton lead the way, Ricciardo in the mix

If there is a driver comfortable on this Russian track it is indeed Valtteri Bottas. On this track, where he scored his first victory in F1 three years ago, the Finn once again climbed to the top of the timesheet.

La Flèche d'Argent N°77 recorded the best mark of this second session with a time of 1'33"519. She took the best of that of Lewis Hamilton which seems to be suffering in Russia. The Englishman notably complained of vibrations throughout these FP2 and had to settle for second place, just over two tenths behind his teammate.

In shape, Daniel Ricciardo is in the game in Russia. Second this morning, the pilot Renault marks the third time of the afternoon, still relegated to one second from the lead of the session.

Wary of the Racing Point and their top speed this weekend, the McLaren managed to outclass them. Carlos Sainz took an encouraging fourth position just ahead of his teammate Lando Norris. The first one car of the Roses ranked 6th thanks to Sergio Pérez while that of Lance stroll only did better than 17th place.

Author of the third fastest time in EL1, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was more discreet in the afternoon. The Dutchman only ranked 7th, more than a second and a half behind Valtteri Bottas' benchmark. His teammate Alexander albon is 12th.

The 8th and 10th beats of Charles Leclerc et Sebastian Vettel perhaps suggest a decent weekend for the Team Ferrari suffering since the start of the season.

On the tricolor side, the best brand is to be put to the credit ofEsteban Ocon (Renault). The Norman set the 9th fastest time in these free practices. Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) finished at the gates of the Top 10 (11th) while Romain Grosjean had a complicated session. Particularly lacking grip, the Frenchman finished this session in 20th and last position.

CLASSIFICATION - END OF FP2@ValtteriBottas finishes of both of Friday's practice sessions@danielricciardo complete a promising day with a strong P3 #RussianGP  #F1 pic.twitter.com/ugsj3Q1HNI

- Formula 1 (@ F1) September 25, 2020