#ImolaGP FP2: @ValtteriBottas heads @MercedesAMGF1 1-2 as @CharlesLeclerc crashes. #F1

Valtteri Bottas topped the time-sheets in the afternoon FP2 session at the Imola GP ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly completing the top three as the session ended under a red flag with Charles Leclerc crashing his Ferrari into the barriers at Rivazza 2.

 

 

The second hour session at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari saw several unusual developments, as the Mercedes duo did not find major gains on their stints using the soft tyres for their qualifying simulation runs, whilst Ferrari’s Leclerc actually posted the best time in FP2, but the Monegasque-youngster’s effort was invalidated due to exceeding track limits.

 

Leclerc then brought the session to an early finish after his crash at the second Rivazza corner in the closing stages.

 

Much like in Free Practice 1, the first 15 minutes were very busy with several drivers enjoying their moment at the top of the time-sheets.

 

Williams Racing’s George Russell lead the field out and set the opening lap of Free Practice 2 with a 1:22.939, which was soon beaten by Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen who posted a 1:20.118.

 

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Leclerc lowered the benchmark to a 1:17’s bracket, with the latter’s 1:17.076 taking him to P1 as he followed his team-mate around the 4.909km circuit.

 

Both Ferrari’s were using the yellow side-walled C3 medium compounds – the same rubber Hamilton was running to go quickest near the end of the first 10 minutes of FP2 on a 1:16.940.

 

Leclerc was able to move back in-front as his medium tyre stint continued, but the Monegasque-youngster lost his best effort for running too wide at Piratella corner at the top of the track’s steep hill in the middle sector.

 

After this, Bottas claimed first place with a 1:16.227 as most of the field continued to use the medium rubber.

 

Bottas improved his best effort and lowered the benchmark to a 1:15.551 with almost 15 minutes completed and this time ended up as the fastest of the session.

 

After a very short lull of inactivity, the two Ferrari’s headed out on the mediums, which Leclerc used to post a 1:15.367 – but the Monegasque-youngster again lost his time at the Piratella corner for exceeding track limits.

 

The Mercedes pairing were sent out on the C4 red side-walled softer compounds for a string of qualifying simulation runs, but despite looking as they were pushing hard, neither could improve on their efforts with the change to the faster tyre.

 

Bottas never beat his quick benchmark on the mediums, and although Hamilton did end up narrowly 0.010 seconds adrift than his team-mate’s best time on the harder rubber.

 

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Gasly used the softs to finish ahead of Ferrari duo Sainz and Leclerc, posting a best effort of a 1:16.371, which was 0.078 seconds adrift of Bottas’ Imola GP FP2 benchmark.

 

Leclerc’s incident occurred with 4 minutes remaining on the clock when he lost the rear of his SF21 racer as he ran along the kerbs between the two Rivazza corners, the car snapping as he turned in for the second left-hand turn.

 

The Monegasque-youngster managed to catch the rear, but his correction caused the Ferrari to spear off the circuit and hit the wall, knocking off the front-right wheel.

 

Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez finished 6th quickest, which had a low-key afternoon as team-mate Max Verstappen suffered an early stoppage.

 

Verstappen was looking to be matching the Mercedes’ early session times on the medium rubber, but as he exited the Rivazza on a flyer at the end of the opening 10 minutes, the Dutchman reported “something snapped off the rear” – a suspected driveshaft problem being the cause – and he pulled his RB16B over at the end of the pit-lane exit.

 

Although Verstappen’s RB16B returned to the Red Bull garage at the mid-point, he did not re-emerge on track.

 

The other Honda-powered AlphaTauri AT02 of Yuki Tsunoda ended the day seventh, with McLaren’s Lando Norris – had an off-track excursion through the Tamburello gravel trap in the early stages of the session, wound up in eighth place.

 

Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi was ninth and ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who rounded out the top ten, with Alpine F1 Team pairing Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso 11th and 13th respectively along with Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi splitting the pairing in-between in 12th.

 

The aforementioned Verstappen finished 14th and in-front of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel who took 15th, Williams Racing’s Russell in 16th and Alfa’s Raikkonen 17th.

 

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo ended his day a low 18th after his effort was deleted for exceeding track limits at turn nine, finishing ahead of Haas F1 Team pairing Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin who brought up the rear.

 

You can see the full Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio Del Made In Italy Dell’emilia Romagna 2021 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2021/races/1065/italy/practice-2.html

 

You can catch up on the earlier Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio Del Made In Italy Dell’emilia Romagna 2021 Free Practice 1 Report here at the link: #EmiliaRomagnaGP FP1: @ValtteriBottas pips @LewisHamilton to go quickest in session. #F1

 

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#F1 Pirelli Gran Premio Del Made In Italy Dell’emilia Romagna 2021 Preview. #EmiliaRomagnaGP