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F1 Russian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 and FP2
All of the thrilling FP1 and FP2 action from the Sochi circuit
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That's one you don't see too often. Leclerc has a strange spin exiting Turn 9, but doesn't hit anything and continues.
With Verstappen now set to start from the back, it's likely to be an all-Mercedes 'fight' on Sunday - we say fight, but Bottas has already said he'll obey any team orders should they come his way in the remainder of the season. Win number 100 is looking increasingly likely for Hamilton on Sunday...
The first man onto the softs (having started the session on them) Leclerc has now been shuffled all the way back to P9 in the order. A bit like the first person to arrive at A&E but with a sprained pinky finger.
It's now been confirmed that Verstappen has taken a new PU and will start from the rear of the grid in Sochi on Sunday. Full story here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/verstappen-to-start-f1-russian-gp-from-back-with-new-power-unit/6673733/
Meanwhile, Ricciardo is finally out of the pits and going for his first flying lap on a set of hard tyres.
Hamilton is on soft tyres too, and goes quickest in the first sector - but can't dethrone Bottas, who stays ahead by 0.044s.
Instead of Verstappen, it's Norris who is Bottas's nearest challenger - the McLaren driver now slots into P2 with a 1m34.154s.
Verstappen also improves on softs to go second quickest, but there's a yawning gap to Bottas of 1.028s - the Red Bull driver only just squeezing in ahead of Alonso.
Sure enough, Bottas goes fastest on a 1m33.593s to bat Alonso's previous best into the next district (we're not sure exactly what the next district from Sochi is, but we'll go with it).
Bottas though is now on softs and just set purple first and second sectors. He's headed straight for P1.
Gasly meanwhile moves up to fourth, benefitting from a set of soft tyres on his AlphaTauri to post a 1m35.295s.
That happened while we were fishing out Alonso's best result in Sochi - which is a sixth place, achieved in 2014 (with Ferrari) and 2016 (miraculously with the McLaren-Honda). What odds on bettering that this weekend with the Alpine?
Crash
Whoops! Hamilton pulls into his box and knocks over the jack man. "Uhhh, magic," he mutters over the radio, presumably referencing the 'magic' switch that controls the brake bias - if you recall, the cause of his restart maladies in Baku. Hamilton is told by Pete Bonnington that the mechanic is okay and being "looked after".
Alonso though goes fastest - it's a 1m34.762s for the double world champion, 0.163s faster than Leclerc.
It's second fastest for Ocon - he puts together a 1m34.994s, just fractionally behind Leclerc in top spot by 0.069s.
Alonso and Ocon have now switched their mediums for softs, and the Hungarian GP winner is lighting up the timing screens - how far will he advance up the order from his current P9?
While Leclerc continues on the soft, Sainz has moved up to fifth on the mediums with a 1m35.657s.
Meanwhile, Alonso has improved to P6, while Schumacher has put the Haas into the giddy heights of P10. Steady on, Mick.
Bottas briefly assumed top spot on his mediums with a 1m35.298s, but Leclerc immediately betters it on the soft and is the first driver to break into the 1m34s bracket - a 1m34.925s puts the Ferrari man back into P1.
Vettel and Stroll are the only drivers other than Norris currently on the hard - the Aston Martin pairing way down in P17 and P18 at the moment, faster only than Tsunoda of the drivers to have set a time.
Both Williams cars now head out of the pits and join Leclerc plus the Haas drivers in running the soft tyre.
Norris, after his FP1 faux pas with the pitwall, is the fastest runner currently on the hard tyres in P6 with a 1m36.170s.
FP1 pace-setter Bottas is again quicker than Hamilton on their first runs, but the Finn is less than a tenth behind Leclerc on a 1m35.593s. Hamilton is a furth six hundredths back in third, then Perez and Verstappen - both Red Bulls also on mediums.
Stopwatch
As in the first session, Leclerc goes out on the soft tyre to start - and duly lights up the timing screens. It's a 1m35.508s for the Ferrari driver, which remains our benchmark as the Mercedes lap slightly slower on the medium tyres.
Raikkonen on his return is the first driver to set a timed lap of 1m37.019s on the medium tyre, but that's swiftly beaten by Leclerc, Sainz, Gasly and his team-mate Giovinazzi.
Breaking news
News from McLaren explains Ricciardo's prolonged spell in the garage at the start of the session.
"We've found an issue on Daniel's PU, which can be fixed outside of the car this evening. In the meantime, we have changed his PU to one from the existing pool to run in FP2."
"We've found an issue on Daniel's PU, which can be fixed outside of the car this evening. In the meantime, we have changed his PU to one from the existing pool to run in FP2."
Most of the field head out immediately at the start of the session, with only Ricciardo and the two Williams drivers staying home.
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Lights green
Some interesting radio dialogue between Red Bull and the FIA is overheard on the world feed, as practice gets underway. Asked if qualifying would be on Sunday morning, due to the expected bad weather tomorrow, the Milton Keynes team is informed that it will still likely be tomorrow afternoon.
We're just over a minute away from the green light. Are we ready for FP2?
Of course, that's not the only news of note to share regarding F1's feeder series. Much to everyone's relief, it was recently announced that F2 and F3 will return to sharing the bill with F1 in 2022, having been split for this year. Full story here: https://www.autosport.com/formula2/news/format-changes-announced-for-f2-and-f3-for-2022/6673675/
Here's the full story on that timetable update and expected weather disruption on Saturday: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-russian-gp-facing-saturday-rain-disruption-fia-brings-forward-f3-race/6673639/
The timing screens record a 0% chance of rain for FP2 - but that's expected to change tomorrow, which explains the F3 race that was originally scheduled for tomorrow morning being bodged onto the end of today's scheduled timetable.
Verstappen isn't the only one nursing a penalty. Charles Leclerc is set to start from the back of the grid for a change of PU in his Ferrari - so the 2019 poleman won't be enjoying a clear track on the long run down to Turn 1 this time around.
In case you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, Verstappen's penalty was handed down because - in the eyes of the stewards - he was deemed predominantly to blame for the race-ending contact between he and Hamilton at Monza.
Championship Max Verstappen was third quickest, and set the fastest middle sector of anybody - but has work to do if he's to qualify on top spot and therefore negate his three-place grid penalty as best as possible.
This morning's FP1 session continued the theme of Mercedes dominance at Sochi, which remains unbroken in F1's eight-year stint at the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, with two-time Russian GP winner Valtteri Bottas topping the times ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
There's just a shade over 10 minutes until this afternoon's running kicks off, as teams ready themselves for long runs to amass data that their teams back at base can pore over tonight before setting their simulator drivers to work.
Good afternoon and welcome back one and all as we begin our build-up to FP2 at Sochi.
Here's the report from FP1 - we'll see you a little bit later for FP2: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-russian-gp-bottas-heads-mercedes-1-2-in-opening-practice/6673533/
By: autosport.com
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