The second free practice is over. The fastest time was clocked by Max Verstappen who may – if things really go crazy – also directly hold pole position. Valtteri Bottas finished in second place.
Where a lot of rainwater is predicted on Saturday, the second free practice last Friday was held under dry conditions. However, it promised to be an interesting session, because Formula 1 had already warned the teams on Friday morning that it may not be possible to drive on Saturday because of the rain. In principle, the qualification then shifts to Sunday morning, but if that is not possible due to circumstances, the result of the last practice session counts. That would be the second free practice. Therefore, some qualifying runs were expected.
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The session started a few minutes later than planned due to an incident in Formula 2 practice, but at five past three the lights went green. Romain Grosjean was the first driver to send his carriage onto the track. He took with his Haas led the way and circled the ring in a 1.07.159. Charles Leclerc in Carlos Sainz However, they soon went into hiding, but after the first fifteen minutes they were again both vans Racing Point who is the timesheet captain. Sergio Perez thereby as leader, with a 1.05.456 on the mediums.
Immediately after this, the session with a red flag was temporarily suspended. Daniel Ricciardo lost control of his Renault at the exit of turn 9, after which he pushed hard into the wall. There was a lot of yellow and black debris on the track, but with one hour and 5 minutes on the clock, free practice was resumed. That seemed Max Verstappen a good time to come out as well. However, the Dutchman said about the on-board radio that he did not have full power. Alexander Albon also knew a moment. The Thai Briton was briefly backwards with his RB16, but was able to continue his way quite easily.
With fifty minutes left, the top five consisted of: Perez (1.04.087), Verstappen (1.04.570), Stroll (1.04.625), Ocon (1.04.903) and Norris (1.04.961). The Dutchman was the only driver to record his time on the mediums, one compound harder than the rest of the top five. Slowly but surely, some qualifying times also came up, if it is the case that the whole thing is canceled on Saturday. In the meantime, Verstappen ran into Bottas on the track, but was not happy with that meeting.
In the second company, the drivers had the soft tire screwed under the car to run a qualifying run just to be sure. Verstappen clocked the second time behind Perez with his first run, but he was deprived of this again because he exceeded the track limits. Moments later, however, Bottas passed the Mexican with a 1.03.703. It was a hit on the second attempt by Verstappen. With half an hour on the clock, he recorded a 1.03.660 and took over the lead in the times list.
Albon experienced another moment in the last fifteen minutes. The Red Bull driver spun out of the corner and slid into the gravel. However, no rider passed the time of Max Verstappen. A strong move from the Dutchman, who has pole position in this case if it is not possible to drive on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Bottas finished in second place, with Perez below. Lewis Hamilton was little in the picture. The Briton was not pleased with the adjustments of his Mercedes.
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