#EmiliaRomagnaGP FP2: @GeorgeRussell63 tops time-sheets. #F1

Russell Emilia Romagna GP FP2 – Mercedes’ George Russell was the quickest in FP2 at the Emilia Romagna GP ahead of the 100km F1 Sprint to decide the grid for Sunday’s race.

The Briton posted a 1:19.457 benchmark on the red side-walled C4 softer compounds and was 0.081 seconds quicker than Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez who set his effort on the medium rubber and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top three and a further 0.283 seconds back.

Perez comfortably lead the way for the first 30 minutes of the hour-long session, as he kept eating away at his personal best lap on the softs to keep at the top of the pile.

It was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who first took to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, running a set of the yellow-marked C3 mediums and was quickly joined by Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu.

McLaren’s Lando Norris shot to the top on a 1:23.821 before seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton lowered the benchmark to a 1:23.821 on a set of mediums after eight minutes in.

But then it was Perez on the move, remaining at the top of the time-sheets as the Red Bull driver continued his stint on the C4 softer tyres.

The Mexican took his RB18 racer around Imola reaching a 1:19.978 to find eight tenths over team-mate Max Verstappen initially, whilst AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda sat in third.

Perez appeared to be on a low-fuel run to mimic the F1 Sprint as he continued to run in the high 1:19’s and low 1:20’s bracket.

In comparison, reigning champion Verstappen was in the high 1:20’s during the majority of his soft stint and occasionally touched the 1:21’s to suggest a simulation run to a Grand Prix.

During his quick run, Perez again improved to a 1:19.790 to lead over Russell.

But the Mercedes emerged after 30 minutes in for a one-lap flyer, with the Briton claiming the session-topping effort of a 1:19.457 and ended up 0.081 seconds over Perez.

Meanwhile Hamilton got under the 1:20’s bracket to take fourth and was ahead of Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso who ended FP2 fifth fastest with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz sixth, Red Bull’s Verstappen seventh and AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda in eighth.

The other AlphaTauri AT03 of Pierre Gasly took ninth and in-front of Alfa’s Zhou who rounded out the top ten.

Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon reached a high 11th in the order and ahead of Haas F1 Team pairing Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher who were 12th and 13th respectively whilst Stroll ended the session ahead of Aston Martin team-mate Sebastian Vettel as both finished FP2 in 14th and 15th.

Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon came 16th in the classification and in-front of Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi was 17th in the order, McLaren Racing pairing Norris and Daniel Ricciardo who were 18th and 19th respectively as Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas brought up the rear.

Both Ricciardo and Bottas missed the entire session due to technical issues.

You can read the full Formula 1 Rolex Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell’Emilia Romagna 2022 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1109/italy/practice-2.html

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