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<strong>FP2: </strong> Mercedes stays in front as Racing Point heads Ferrari

FP2: Mercedes stays in front as Racing Point heads Ferrari

Published on 03 Jul 2020 16:26
2
By: Harry Mattocks

Lewis Hamilton has finished the second practice session on the 2020 Formula 1 season at the top of the timesheets, posting a 1:04.304.

Hamilton maintained his lead over his teammate Valtteri Bottas from the morning session, with the Finn a couple of tenths slower.

Racing Point were the closest team to the Silver Arrows, as Sergio Perez unleashed the potential of what has been dubbed 'the pink Mercedes'. He finished in third place, a few tenths ahead of his teammate Lance Stroll who ended the session in seventh.

The midfield battle seems to be much closer this season, as there were five different cars in the top six. Ferrari are the team that has arguably slipped back into this battle, as Sebastian Vettel could only manage fourth place. He was only just ahead of future teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris in fifth and sixth respectively.

Behind Stroll was the first Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who along with his teammate Alex Albon had a tricky day at the Red Bull Ring. He was nearly a second off the pace and struggled with the handling of his RB15 with a few spins throughout the day. We saw this behaviour in winter testing too, and it also caught out Albon on the outside of turn one.

The other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc finished down in ninth, with Carlos Sainz rounding out the top ten. The Spaniard struggled with the kerb on the final corner as he took a chunk out of his front wing during the session.

Christian Horner also admitted that Red Bull were also struggling with this kerb as 'it invites you in' but the FIA refuses to remove it. Albon only managed thirteenth and will be hoping for a better result in qualifying.

There were some encouraging signs for Haa as Romain Grosjean was able to catch up with the running that he missed out on in free practice one. George Russell also managed to lift his Williams out of the bottom two places, although his teammate Nicholas Latifi had a few offs in his FW43.

F1Grand Prix Austria - Free practice 2

Red Bull Ring - 03 July 2020

Driver

Team

Time

Difference

#
1

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:04.304

42
2

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes

1:04.501

+0.197

37
3

Sergio Perez

Racing Point

1:04.945

+0.641

48
4

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

1:04.961

+0.657

48
5

Daniel Ricciardo

Renault

1:04.972

+0.668

36
6

Lando Norris

McLaren

1:05.087

+0.783

38
7

Lance Stroll

Racing Point

1:05.135

+0.831

49
8

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:05.215

+0.911

41
9

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:05.298

+0.994

46
10

Carlos Sainz jr

McLaren

1:05.352

+1.048

37
11

Esteban Ocon

Renault

1:05.415

+1.111

42
12

Daniil Kvyat

Alpha Tauri

1:05.443

+1.139

34
13

Alexander Albon

Red Bull Racing

1:05.453

+1.149

47
14

Antonio Giovinazzi

Alfa Romeo Racing

1:05.608

+1.304

49
15

Kevin Magnussen

Haas F1

1:05.678

+1.374

44
16

Romain Grosjean

Haas F1

1:05.908

+1.604

50
17

Pierre Gasly

Alpha Tauri

1:06.016

+1.712

51
18

George Russell

Williams

1:06.125

+1.821

40
19

Kimi Räikkönen

Alfa Romeo Racing

1:06.278

+1.974

44
20

Nicholas Latifi

Williams

1:07.124

+2.820

45

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Replies (2)

RogerF1

Posts: 501
Mercs again, yawn. Just let those two disappear off the front and we can relish to watch/follow the real racing behind - that at least should be an interesting season on this form. Ferrari and RB seem to be a bit ‘off’ and will mix it with McL, Racing Point and by the look of it Renault as well.
- + 0
- Jul 3 2020 - 17:20
Manto02

Posts: 93
Now it's clear that RP had the mercedes project, if not why would the others lose time in projecting a car when they could just copy? And haas is nowhere near ferrari usually
- + 0
- Jul 3 2020 - 17:43