F1 Russian GP Live Updates - Friday practice
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By: Jake Boxall-Legge
Summary
Status: Stopped
A familiar story on the track in FP2 but, for 2021, a new face at the head of F1 has been announced with the appointment of Stefano Domenicali, which made it an incredibly busy couple of hours. We'll be back tomorrow with live coverage of FP3 ahead of the Russian GP which starts at 10:00 BST (12:00 local time). Until then have a lovely Friday!
It looks a solid day for McLaren despite Sainz's FP1 prang, with the Spaniard P4 for the second session and team-mate Norris P5. Perez led the Racing Point charge in P6 ahead of Red Bull's Verstappen and Ferrari's Leclerc.
So, Bottas takes the headlines on Friday at Sochi ahead of team-mate Hamilton with Mercedes in control. Ricciardo, in third, was just over one second off Bottas - which is a lot over one lap.
Just enough time for Vettel to become the latest driver to lock up at Turn 13 but the Ferrari driver avoids any serious repercussions at the end of the session.
Into the closing minutes of FP2 as Hamilton pits having completed a soft tyre stint. He's wheeled back into the garage so that is his day done.
F1's graphics state the ‘current pace on track’ sees Bottas also on top on the long runs with an average of 1m38.5s on the hards with Verstappen closest to him with a 1m39.4s average on the mediums. It’s looking a very good Friday for the Finn.
Norris has switched between the old and new McLaren nose throughout the two sessions today so the team will have a feast of data and laps to assess overnight and decide whether to keep it for the rest of the weekend.
Mercedes might be rapid today but both Bottas and Hamilton are finding Turns 13 and 14 tricky. Bottas locks his right-front tyre under braking which pushes him briefly off the track.
"We need to be careful with the left-front at Turn 4, please," Ocon is told over his Renault team radio. The French driver is currently on the softs and the tyre in question looks like it wouldn't pass an MOT.
Here's the developing story on Domenicali becoming F1's new big boss: 
Domenicali confirmed as new CEO of Formula 1
Stefano Domenicali's move to become the president and CEO of Formula 1 was confirmed on Friday
Switching back to FP2, Bottas has pitted after his cockpit issue and is now on the hard tyres for a stint. Mercedes is splitting strategy with Hamilton currently on the medium compound.
Non-FP2 news: F1 has confirmed Stefano Domenicali will take up the role of president and CEO from January 2021 with Chase Carey becoming non-executive chairman. Full story to follow.
"Something in the cockpit is sticking to my hand on the left side, some tape or something, but I don't know if it is important," Bottas reports over his Mercedes team radio.
Hamilton has locked up and gone off track again at Turn 13. It's proving an unhappy part of the circuit for the Mercedes driver today.
The F1 drivers are queuing up in an orderly fashion at the exit of the pits to complete practice starts ahead of the race stints. How very polite.
So it looks like Bottas will take top spot honours in FP2 assuming there are no further outright lap time improvements - and let's be honest unless it is by Hamilton the Finn has little to fear given the dominance by Mercedes today.
The frantic soft tyre action has largely concluded with most drivers either back in the garages or starting race runs.
Not to be beaten by his team-mate, Sainz produces a 1m34.723s to take fourth place and push Norris back one spot.
This is turning into a frustrating session for Verstappen as spins at Turn 14. The Red Bull driver almost completes a full 360-degree rotation but keeps it out of the barriers.
Meanwhile Norris, sporting the new McLaren nose and flow-vis paint on the wing, moves up to fourth place with a 1m34.847s.
Verstappen gets it busy coming out of Turn 2 on his last push lap and does well to keep his Red Bull under control, but it wrecks his lap as he puts in a 1m35.048s to only take P5.
Ricciardo is the latest driver to take the best of the rest slot in third place with the Mercedes duo in a league of their own. The Renault driver's 1m34.577s still isn't enough to move inside one second of Bottas.
Perez improves to go P3 with a 1m34.890s but that time is still over one second off the Mercedes pair. Just behind him Vettel slots into fourth place for Ferrari with a 1m35.183s.
Suddenly the track is awash with red banded Pirelli soft tyres. Stroll is one of the first drivers to set a new personal best lap as he goes P5 with a 1m35.627s but that's two seconds slower than Bottas at the top of the times.
Bottas avoids the same mistake as his team-mate to put in a 1m33.519s to go fastest. It could have been even faster but he again runs wide at the final corner.
Hamilton locks up big style braking at Turn 13 and only just gets his Mercedes stopped before coming face to face with the barrier. It duly wrecks his second push lap.
So far none of the other F1 teams have moved on to the soft tyres in this session, so it is a bit of a lonely qualifying simulation for the Mercedes pair.
Albon is the latest driver to endure a slide as he tries to put the power down early coming out of Turn 14 but it results in him drifting wide and over the kerbs.
The soft tyre runs are underway with Mercedes getting things going early once again. Hamilton puts in a 1m33.786s, with Bottas fractionally slower with a 1m33.883s.
Ricciardo has moved up to second place, where he finished FP1, having set a 1m35.341s on the mediums. That puts him four-tenths off Hamilton.
"It feels like I am laying more in my car," Verstappen reports to his Red Bull team. Sounds comfy, but not ideal when trying to drive an F1 car.
Leclerc's Ferrari does not sound very well but he is continuing on a new lap so there cannot be too much concern from his team.
Stroll is the latest spinner as he gets his Racing Point facing the wrong way around at Turn 13 but avoids the barrier so is able to continue without any issues.
Hamilton heads the times now by setting a 1m34.890s to go 1.1s faster than Bottas - but the British driver is on the medium tyres compared to his team-mate on the hards.
The Sochi track still looks slippery at the start of this session as the timing screen reports Norris missing the apex at Turn 2.
Bottas regains top spot with a 1m36.065s on the hard tyres despite running wide and off the track at the final corner.
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