George Russell has taken the fastest time in both Friday sessions, fuelling predictions of success on Sunday. Valtteri Bottas struggled in the second Mercedes while Racing Point and Red Bull seem locked in for the battle of ‘best of the rest’.
Raving Russell
Russell looked cautious during his opening laps, just managing to keep within a second of Bottas. But, he switched the car on and stormed to a very impressive 1st in both sessions. However, it was a much less positive afternoon for Bottas, who Russell is tipped to replace in 2022. The Finn never looked particularly comfortable, taking many off track excursions and actually damaged his car in FP1. He fell to 11th in FP2. It has been a dream start for the young Briton, but looks set to be another nightmare for the Finn.
Best of the rest
As per usual, Red Bull were the next nearest competitors, an encouraging prospect for them as they had been predicted to struggle on the low downforce track. Verstappen took 2nd in both sessions, while Albon was just behind finishing 3rd and 4th respectively.
After heartbreak last week, Racing Point will be looking to make amends, and they have put themselves in a good position. Despite an unimpressive showing in FP1. They showed their true pace in FP2 with Perez finishing a very respectable 3rd. Stroll was just behind in 7th.
Ocon took charge at Renault, outpacing Ricciardo in both sessions and taking an impressive 4th in FP2 with Ricciardo 8th. The Frenchman has been outperformed all season by the popular Australian and he will be looking for a strong finish before Alonso steps in for 2021.
Kvyat showed impressive pace in his Alpha Tauri, taking 5th and 6th around the outer ring. Gasly backed up the team’s pace with 6th and 9th only a few tenths from his team-mate. A surprise performance and one they will be desperate to maintain tomorrow.
Out of the points
Ferrari managed a double top 10 finish in FP1, but FP2 was not such a positive affair. Vettel could only manage 16th while Leclerc did not even manage to set a time due to technical gremlins. The Ferrari mechanics are lucky to not have more work tonight, as Vettel almost collected a Haas during a spin in FP1.
McLaren will consider themselves lucky for such a large points haul last week as their showing on Friday was dreadful. Their highest finish was Sainz in 10th in FP2 while Norris was not able to finish higher than 16th. Norris had to sit out his simulation run in FP2 after his car picked up an issue.
Alfa Romeo stayed in formation in both sessions, climbing to 12th and 13th in FP2, with Raikkonen outpacing Giovinazzi. Latifi and Magnussen were almost too close to call with less than 0.050 between them.
2 drivers will make their race debuts this weekend and would have been looking for a positive start to their weekend. Fittipaldi was drafted to replace the recovering Grosjean and Aitken steps in at Williams. Fittipaldi outpaced Aitken by in both sessions, but the new drivers were distant to the rest of the pack.
George Russell in the Mercedes has created a huge amount of anticipation for the first around the Sahkir outer ring. There are many factors still to take into consideration, but F1 seems set for another must watch race this weekend.
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
