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Valtteri Bottas led another Mercedes 1-2 in the second practice session ahead of Formula 1’s Russian Grand Prix, while a crash for Antonio Giovinazzi caused a red flag.
Key moments:
> Bottas leads Hamilton as in FP1
> Gasly third ahead of Norris
> Verstappen only sixth, Perez 11th
> Leclerc spins, Giovinazzi shunt caused red flag
> Gasly loses front wing late on
With around 25 minutes of the session remaining, Giovinazzi speared into the barriers on the exit of Turn 9, in a hefty shunt that destroyed the rear of the Alfa.
Giovinazzi, fighting for his future as he currently occupies the hotly-contested last seat on the grid for next year, did emerge from the barriers but had to pull his Alfa off to the side of the circuit, causing a red flag.
Antonio reports that he is ok after that clash with the barriers at Turn 9 💥
The debris from his car is being cleared #RussianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/UiBdAapmFz
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2021
After a 10-minute delay, the session resumed for the final 16 minutes, but nobody could displace morning pacesetter Bottas from the top of the timesheet at the Sochi circuit where he secured his maiden F1 win in 2017.
The 2022 Alfa Romeo driver set a 1m33.593s to top the session and beat his morning benchmark by nine tenths.
His team-mate Lewis Hamilton was second-fastest ahead of a crucial weekend in which his F1 title rival Max Verstappen will have to start from the back of the grid after a power unit change prior to FP2.
Pierre Gasly was an impressive third-quickest in what might be the final dry session before Sunday’s grand prix amid a serious rain threat for Saturday’s sessions.
Gasly ended FP2 with a broken front wing after he launched his AlphaTauri over the kerbs after overshooting Turn 2.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was fourth ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Verstappen, who complained of a lack of top speed while following the Williams of Nicholas Latifi – clearly worried that it will affect his chances of charge through the field on Sunday.
Carlos Sainz was seventh for Ferrari ahead of the second Alpine of Fernando Alonso, while Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top 10.
Leclerc suffered a similar moment to Giovinazzi but he was able to avoid the barriers and continue in the session unscathed.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez could only manage 11th while Italian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo continued to struggle for pace at Sochi with the 17th-quickest time, over two seconds off the pace.
For the second session in a row, Nikita Mazepin was ahead of his Haas team-mate Mick Schumacher, in 19th place.
