2
Valtteri Bottas has concluded practice from the Japanese Grand Prix on top of the timesheets, keeping his position at the top of the standings from this morning's session.
Bottas' fastest lap time was a 1:27.785, which was exactly one-tenth of a second ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was second fastest.
Should qualifying fail to take place on Sunday morning, Bottas will take pole position for the start of the race, as this session's classification will form the grid in an event that a proper qualifying session can't be held.
However, it wasn't plain sailing for the Finn, as with just over an hour left to run, he spun while entering the final corner to start a hot lap.
Max Verstappen was fourth fastest for Red Bull, heading the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel.
Both Ferrari drivers set their hot laps in the final minutes of the session compared to their rivals who opted for an earlier time slot.
Alexander Albon was sixth in the second Red Bull, just over sixth-tenths down on pace-setter Bottas.
As he did in the opening practice session, Carlos Sainz topped the midfield pack, boasting a three-tenths of a second gap over the nearest car, which in this case was Sergio Perez.
After sitting out the opening practice session to allow Naoki Yamamoto to drive the car, Pierre Gasly ended FP2 in ninth place, in front of Lando Norris who concluded the top ten.
Antonio Giovinazzi returned to the track in second after setting just four laps this morning before being hit with a car problem, and endured no major setbacks during the 90 minutes.
Circuit Suzuka - 11 October 2019
Grand Prix of Belgium
2 members have this team as their favourite
Replies (2)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
worrying pace from ferrari
abhidbgt
Posts: 283
I feel Mercedes have made a step rather than Ferrari going backwards. Nonetheless the way it stands now Mercedes might wrap up constructor's championship this Sunday.