Russell continues in EL2 at Sakhir, Bottas rough and 11th

The British hopeful produces a very clean copy for his first day with Mercedes.

Published on 04/12/2020 à 20:09

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Russell continues in EL2 at Sakhir, Bottas rough and 11th

George Russell received 2 out of 2 for his first steps behind the wheel of the Mercedes W11. After dominating the opening session, the replacement of Lewis Hamilton, forfeited due to Covid-19, did it again in the evening with the best time in Free Practice 2 of the Sakhir Grand Prix.

His time of 54''713 is however slower than the 54''546 achieved in EL1. Russell ahead again Max Verstappen (Red Bull), this time of 0''128. The Dutchman complained about behavior “ hopping " of his car at the exit of turn 1.

Behind during the 1st session, Sergio Pérez and Racing Point bounced back to 3rd place, 0”153 behind Russell. The Mexican precedes his former Force India teammate, Esteban Ocon, very comfortable behind the wheel of the Renault (+ 0''227).

Alexander albon completes the Top 5 aboard the 2nd Red Bull, whileAlpha Tauri also confirms its good dispositions with the 6th time of Daniil Kvyat.

Lance stroll (Racing Point) removes the 7th mark, ahead Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), and Carlos Sainz (McLaren), whose gearbox had synchronization problems.

Valtteri Bottas experienced a messy session with several times erased for non-compliance with the track limits at turn 8, the exit from the winding portion of the outer Bahrain track.

One of his efforts would have allowed him to take the best time of the session but the Finn had to settle for 11th place in the end, ahead of the Alfa Romeo.

Ferrari is having a complicated session to say the least. Sebastian Vettel was the victim of a spin and almost lost control of his SF1000 on several other occasions. His teammate Charles Leclerc was not even able to set the slightest time due to a recalcitrant driveshaft.

The Monegasque is not the only one to have experienced mechanical problems since Lando Norris encountered an engine problem with his McLaren-Renault.