Verstappen fastest in FP2 ahead of Bottas: Styrian GP

David Bodapati July 10, 2020

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Racing Point did well to come third and fourth fastest (P3 and P4) in FP2 on Friday. A Racing Point image of Perez

Spielberg, 10 July 2020: Max Verstappen edged Valtteri Bottas to the quickest time of the second practice session ahead of Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix with the Red Bull driver beating the winner of last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix by just over four-hundredths of a second. There was trouble though for Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, who crashed out early in the session.

The Australian brought out the red flags just 13 minutes into the session when he crashed heavily in Turn 9. Ricciardo lost the rear-end of his Renault as he turned in and the back end of his car immediately snapped out to sending him spinning backwards through the gravel trap and into the barriers.

The session was halted for 15 minutes while his car was recovered and as the mid-point of the session approached teams began to switch to soft tyres for qualifying simulations.

Racing Point drivers Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll initially led the way before Bottas jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:03.703. Verstappen though was in irresistible form and he eventually took the spot with a lap 0.043 seconds quicker than the Finn with Perez and Stroll in third and fourth places respectively. Sergio Perez said: “It’s been a promising day. We’ve been chipping away and learning about our car, and that’s been positive so far – exploring where we can make improvements and find performance. It’s very close among the top teams, but we’ve shown that both cars are in the mix for points, just like we were last weekend. Obviously, there are signs of wet weather tomorrow so let’s wait and see what happens in Qualifying.”

It was a less successful day for Bottas’ team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The Briton looked uncomfortable during his qualifying simulations and he finished the session in sixth place behind McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.

Alex Albon ended the session in seventh place for Red Bull, though he had two spins during the session, at Turn 3 and Turn 8, while Lando Norris took eighth in the sister McLaren ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in ninth. Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10 for Renault.

2020 FIA Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 03.660 27 244.184
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:03.703 0.043 36 244.019
3 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:03.877 0.217 43 243.355
4 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:04.241 0.581 43 241.976
5 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 1:04.333 0.673 45 241.630
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.348 0.688 27 241.573
7 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:04.437 0.777 29 241.240
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:04.541 0.881 31 240.851
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:04.706 1.046 35 240.237
10 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:04.746 1.086 32 240.088
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.757 1.097 37 240.048
12 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:05.050 1.390 34 238.966
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.152 1.492 23 238.592
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.365 1.705 36 237.815
15 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:05.588 1.928 34 237.006
16 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:05.613 1.953 40 236.916
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:05.655 1.995 49 236.764
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:05.790 2.130 36 236.279
19 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:06.096 2.436 38 235.185
20 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 2