Bottas beats Hamilton to the top in Free Practice Two

The second Formula 1 practice session of the day has concluded, and it’s Valtteri Bottas who headed the pack once again at the Sochi Autodrom street circuit.

The track- which surrounds Russia’s Olympic Park- has been tricky to master all day, and lots of drivers have found out that the dusty surface is a force to be reckoned with. As the circuit began to rubber-in, more and more of the field were confident enough to push their cars harder, and Free Practice Two saw quicker lap times and braver drivers.

The session began at 13:00 BST, and Romain Grosjean was the first out of the pits and onto the windier track. Contrary to the first session of the day, only a few drivers were on-circuit early on, and it was a tentative start for all.

The first incident of the session occurred fifteen minutes in, and saw Lance Stroll spinning into turn thirteen. The Canadian was unaffected, and went on to finish seventeenth.

After struggling with lockups in the earlier session, Lewis Hamilton fell victim to the tell-tale tyre stresses once more at turn thirteen- compromising his purple sector times and effectively scrapping the lap. Just seconds later, his team-mate Valtteri Bottas also had an incident on a purple lap and lost time through sector three. Both Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team drivers were certainly testing the limits in anticipation of a thrilling Qualifying tomorrow.

Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris shined at the half way mark, setting lap times good enough for third and fourth respectively. Not long after, Max Verstappen fell victim to an innocuous spin at turn fourteen- topping off a slightly lacklustre day at Sochi. The Dutchman finished the session seventh.

Traffic proved to be an issue when all cars were on track, and George Russell was one driver unhappy about this particular issue. As usual, he pushed his Williams FW43 as hard as he could but could only manage a 1:35.5 to earn him sixteenth only. His team-mate Nicholas Latifi was most likely tip-toeing around the circuit after a crash in Free Practice One rendered him unable to complete any more running, and the Canadian ended up in fifteenth place.

There was also action in the paddock as well as the track during the session, and with twenty minutes to go it was officially announced that ex-Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali would replace Chase Carey as the CEO of Formula 1. Domenicali will undertake the role on New Years Day next year.

As the session ended, it was Bottas 0.267s faster than team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes pair were eons ahead of the rest of the field in both sessions today, and it was Ricciardo who finished closest to the duo in third.

Carlos Sainz was the fastest of the two McLaren’s, and finished fourth- one place ahead of Norris. The top ten was completed by Sergio Pérez, Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel

Pos.	#	Driver	Nat.	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:33.519	N/A	37
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:33.786	0.267s	33
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Renault DP World F1 Team	1:34.577	1.058s	27
4	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	ESP	McLaren F1 Team	1:34.723	1.204s	36
5	4	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1:34.847	1.328s	33
6	11	Sergio Pérez	MEX	BWT Racing Point Formula One Team	1:34.890	1.371s	35
7	33	Max Verstappen	NED	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	1:35.048	1.529s	30
8	16	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1:35.052	1.533s	35
9	31	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Renault DP World F1 Team	1:35.139	1.620s	28
10	5	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Scuderia Ferrari	1:35.183	1.664s	35
11	10	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	1:35.210	1.691s	35
12	23	Alexander Albon	THA	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	1:35.242	1.723s	31
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	RUS	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	1:35.461	1.942s	37
14	7	Kimi Räikkönen	FIN	Alfa Romeo Racing	1:35.516	1.997s	33
15	6	Nicholas Latifi	CAN	Williams Racing	1:35.563	2.044s	31
16	63	George Russell	GBR	Williams Racing	1:35.575	2.056s	30
17	18	Lance Stroll	CAN	BWT Racing Point Formula One Team	1:35.627	2.108s	34
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas F1 Team	1:35.729	2.210s	32
19	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	ITA	Alfa Romeo Racing	1:36.053	2.534s	36
20	8	Romain Grosjean	FRA	Haas F1 Team	1:36.858	3.339s	32