George Russell was the fastest driver in FP2. The Mercedes driver took the grid in the second practice session after sitting out FP1. Russell set his fastest time on this year’s Pirelli tyres.
Table of Contents
Five drivers returned in FP2
Alex Albon, Kevin Magnussen, Yuki Tsunoda, and Estaban Ocon returned for FP2 after sitting out FP1. These were the only drivers allowed to set times on this year’s compounds. The rest of the grid carried out a practice program for Pirelli. Among the drivers who set times on the testing tyres, Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver, followed by Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
The session was not the smoothest for Kevin Magnussen or Alex Albon. Kevin Magnussen had to wait for a new engine to be fitted into his car. The previous engine caught smoke in FP1 when Pietro Fittipaldi was driving the car. Similarly, Albon had to wait for about 25 minutes in the garage before he was sent out.
Leclerc had a huge crash out of Turn 8
Charles Leclerc suffered a massive shunt 35 minutes into the session. The Ferrari driver lost the car’s rear at the entry of Turn 8. The Ferrari spun backwards into the tech pro barrier. The back of Leclerc’s car was destroyed in the crash.
There were indications that the wreckage had also caused supplemental damages to the Ferrari’s gearbox though it isn’t official at the moment. The Ferrari crew must pull a late-nighter to fix his car for tomorrow’s FP3. Thankfully Leclerc walked out of the crash unharmed. The tech pro barrier also suffered some damage, and the session had to be red-flagged. It took nearly 20 minutes to repair the barriers before the session was green-flagged.
Zhou Guanyu suffered another Mechanical problem
Zhou Guanyu suffered another mechanical failure a few minutes before the conclusion of FP2. The Alfa Romeo driver stopped his car on the track with a suspected Hydraulics issue. Saturday’s qualifying session looks like a tightly contested session between Ferrari, Red Bull, and possibly Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
FP2 Classification
| George Russell |
| Yuki Tsunoda |
| Estaban Ocon |
| Lewis Hamilton |
| Sergio Perez |
| Max Verstappen |
| Charles Leclerc |
| Carlos Sainz |
| Valtteri Bottas |
| Pierre Gasly |
| Fernando Alonso |
| Sebastian Vettel |
| Alex Albon |
| Lando Norris |
| Daniel Ricciardo |
| Lance Stroll |
| Mick Schumacher |
| Kevin Magnussen |
| Nicholas Latifi |
| Zhou Guanyu |
| Mercedes |
| Alpha Tauri |
| Alpine |
| Mercedes |
| Red Bull |
| Red Bull |
| Ferrari |
| Ferrari |
| Alfa Romeo |
| Alpha Tauri |
| Alpine |
| Aston Martin |
| Williams |
| McLaren |
| McLaren |
| Aston Martin |
| Haas |
| Haas |
| Williams |
| Alfa Romeo |
| 1:19.970 |
| +0.828 |
| +1.207 |
| +1.539 |
| +1.609 |
| +1.618 |
| +1.648 |
| +1.723 |
| +2.023 |
| +2.134 |
| +2.367 |
| +2.401 |
| +2.477 |
| +2.768 |
| +2.793 |
| +2.87 |
| +2.909 |
| +3.346 |
| +3.35 |
| +3.399 |
