FT2: Let’s go!
The red flag cost the teams twelve minutes. At just 60 minutes, that’s a whopping 20 percent of the session! 18 cars are still there, Bottas and Sainz are no longer driving today. Curious: The Spaniard continues to lead with his 1:30.964.
But that will certainly not remain the case. 31 minutes are left on the clock. So already halftime.
FT2: Red flag
It just doesn’t work for Sainz: Two failures recently, two spins today. And this time he even hits it. Red flag, that was it with his Friday. So no long runs. Training is suspended for everyone.
FT2: Confirmation
Alfa Romeo has since confirmed that Bottas will not be able to compete in FT2. However, we are still waiting for the justification. Of course we’ll stay tuned!
Apart from him, all we’re waiting for now is Verstappen. At least we already know that the gearbox had to be changed.
FT2: Spinner Perez
It’s almost de rigueur these days. After the Ferrari drivers turned in FT1 and Verstappen touched the wall, the second Red Bull driver was also hit. But he can continue.
By the way, Sainz is currently leading with a 1:30.964. That’s already faster than Leclerc in FT1. Meanwhile, there are signs of dissolution on the Haas: parts of Schumacher and Magnussen each come loose. Not good.
FT2: Without Bottas
That surprises us a bit. The Alfa Romeo is in the pits without an engine. So the Finn won’t be able to drive in this session. His departure wasn’t really that violent and there would normally have been enough time.
Maybe the team will explain to us why he can’t drive. Apart from him, Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers have not yet been on the track.
FT2: New gearbox for Verstappen
After the Dutchman hit the wall in FT1, his gearbox was changed. For safety reasons, according to the team. In memory of: The gear rules have been changed for this year.
There is no penalty for the change. In FT2, meanwhile, not everyone is in as much of a hurry as in FT1. Only half of the 20 drivers were already on the track. By this point in FT1, everyone was already out.
No penalty for Ricciardo
We want to resolve that quickly before we continue. The Australian did not receive a penalty for the action with Schumacher in FT1. He avoids punishment because he wasn’t on the ideal line and didn’t hit the brakes hard either.
Here is the somewhat more complex explanation in full:
“The driver of Car 3 was warned that a Red Bull car was on a fast lap whilst he and Car 18 were on slow laps. Car 18 was on the fast line, Car 3 to its left. The driver of Car 3 realized he needed to slow to allow Car 18 to pull ahead however this occurred at the same time as Car 47 (also on a slow lap) approached.
“Both drivers expressed the view that although it is disadvantageous to run off the racing line (due to the newness of the track surface and loose pebbles), it would be important in other sessions to ensure that slower cars stayed off the racing line.”
“The Stewards noted that there was very little brake applied by the driver of Car 3 and decided that this could not be deemed as ‘erratic’ driving. The Stewards reinforce the view that drivers not on a fast lap should endeavor to stay off the racing line when in the vicinity of other cars.”
FT2: Open the session ticker now!
Only a few minutes until the second training and for you this is the time again, parallel to ours Session ticker with Stefan Ehlen to open. Only there you get the complete coverage of FT2. Here we limit ourselves to the most important information, pictures and voices.
The air temperature is still 32.3 degrees, so it is very similar to FT1. The track has cooled down a bit at 42.9 degrees. But still hot enough!