Bottas fastest again as Verstappen stops, Leclerc crashes in FP2
Mercedes Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas once again set the pace in second practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Max Verstappen stopped on track and Charles Leclerc crashed.
Bottas, who took pole at Imola last year, ended FP2 fastest with a 1m15.551s to edge out seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton by just 0.010s as Mercedes completed another 1-2 to round out Friday practice at Imola, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly set a very impressive time to get within 0.078s of the Finn’s benchmark in third.
Red Bull suffered another setback as Max Verstappen lost the majority of the session - arguably the most important practice of the weekend - when his RB16B ground to a halt on the pit straight.
Verstappen lost drive in his Honda-powered Red Bull after reporting “something snapped at the rear” of his car after running wide over the kerbs at the final corner, bringing his FP2 to a premature end.
It was an encouraging afternoon for Ferrari as Carlos Sainz headed teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth, though the Monegasque ended FP2 in the wall at the final corner as he attempted to correct a snap of oversteer coming through the second Rivazza, admitting he was “pushing quite a bit”.
Sergio Perez was sixth-fastest and eight-tenths off the pace in the second Red Bull, 0.008s clear of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
McLaren’s Lando Norris and Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi also finished within a second of Bottas’ benchmark in P8 and P9 respectively, while Lance Stroll rounded out the top-10 for Aston Martin.
FULL RESULTS FROM SECOND PRACTICE FOR F1’s EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX AT IMOLA.
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