St. Petersburg – EL2: Ericsson allows Andretti to stay on top

Ericsson set his fastest time on the hard tyres, while Rinus VeeKay, second for Dale Coyne Racing, switched to the softs late in the session. The Dutchman had not been able to complete many laps in the first session on Friday. He therefore needed track time on the Firestone green-walled tyres in preparation for qualifying. Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) finished in the top three once again, ahead of Nolan Siegel (Arrow McLaren) and Conor Daly (Juncos Hollinger Racing), which now bears the number 76.

Daly, who was one of the few drivers to use the soft tires this Saturday morning, confirmed what the majority of the field thought last night. These extremely soft tires only offer optimal performance during their first flying lap. It will therefore be crucial to perfectly master the timing of your outing on track in order to extract the maximum from the tires in qualifying. The obligation to use the two types of tires brought by Firestone in the race should also spice up this first round of the year.

Unlike Friday, no one hit the wall during this free practice session. Will Power (Team Penske) did have some problems in the first few minutes of the session, but he was quickly able to get going again. Unlike Robert Shwartzman (Prema Racing), who only completed ten laps in the final minutes, after being held up in the pits due to a radio problem.

Qualifying for this first round of the year will start at around 20:30 pm. As always, the peloton will be split into two groups. Marcus Ericsson will have the right to choose the group he will be in (probably the second), all the drivers in odd positions will be placed in his group, the others will take to the track in the other group.

St. Petersburg Grand Prix – Free Practice 2

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