Слава Родине, товарищ GP of Sochi

[Everso Biggyballies]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Anyway p1 about to start..... and remembering now what a boring track this is. Very forgettable place.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Of the Merc wins since 2014 four victories to Hamilton and two to Bottas (along with one for Nico Rosberg).
Interestingly Hamilton hasn't always excelled in qualifying though, with only two poles from seven attempts.

Lewis and Nico have 2 each, with 1 each to Vettel, Leclerc and Bottas

[Everso Biggyballies]

Max will be up against a team effort from Merc with Bottas already saying he is happy to play as Lewis' bitch, if necessary allowing Lewis to pass him to take a win....

Bottas currently fastest by quarter of a second from Lewis, with Max 7th and unhappy with the car. Max looks like his car is scraping everywhere with a trail of sparks from the car.

Early days yet though.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Just for reference last year this first session was led by Bottas with a 1:34.923.

Bottas has just had another run and gone fastest with a 34.4 so they are already faster than last year and not even half way way through this session yet.
1:33.279 was last years fastest practice time (p3)
1:31.304 was last year's pole.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Max now 4th, but well over a second off Bottas time. Leclerc 3rd midway between Max and Bottas.

Everyone except Alonso has now done a soft tyre run. 20 mins to go.

[Everso Biggyballies]

p1 thoughts, times and summary.

Max has limited his mileage today, and only done a dozen laps..... is that a signal he is saving the engine, and wont take a new engine this weekend as thought?

Maybe with the forecast of rain on a Sunday is making the thought of starting rear of grid in the wet is going to throw Max in the madness of midfield battles to fight through, along with the risks of damage that go with that? He cant risk a DNF (unless it is as Monza with Lewis out as well. By the same token maybe a wet race would be seen as less stressful on an engine? (Are they, given wet = wheelspin and revs) Basically he cannot risk any type of DNF, be it mechanical or a midfield scrap and clash trying to force his way through the field.

Anyway p1 is done and it is a Merc 1-2 with Max in third. (Max had an extra soft tyre la is the only reason he got closer to the Mercs who were more doing long runs.)

Ferrari are both in the 10, and Vettel is up there too, Gasly Sainz and Lando also. Sergio a second and a half shy of Max, but was he doing all the hard tyre and long running for the team, data collecting to save Max engine time?

Williams looking very ordinary, and the Haas celebrated their continuance with Schu and Maz by being the only two over 4 secs off the pace.

But Merc looked like they were cruising, not doing any qualy sims as such at the end, and still comfortably fastest.... 5th place nearly 1.5 secs shy of the pace


Times.

POS DRIVER GAP TYRES USED
1 Valtteri BOTTAS1:34.427 5
2 Lewis HAMILTON+0.211 6
3 Max VERSTAPPEN+0.227 3
4 Charles LECLERC+0.690 4
5 Sebastian VETTEL+1.354 3
6 Pierre GASLY+1.367 5
7 Carlos SAINZ+1.384 5
8 Lando NORRIS+1.532 5
9 Sergio PEREZ+1.761 3
10 Fernando ALONSO+1.798 3
11 Esteban OCON+1.809 3
12 Lance STROLL+2.095 3
13 Antonio GIOVINAZZI+2.368 4
14 Daniel RICCIARDO+2.450 4
15 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN+2.525 4
16 Yuki TSUNODA+3.367 3
17 George RUSSELL+3.586 5
18 Nicholas LATIFI+3.728 3
19 Nikita MAZEPIN+4.159 3
20 Mick SCHUMACHER+4.550 3

[Everso Biggyballies]

Just getting ready for another pee, all about to start. pee # 2 it is

Still no news on whether Max will take his new engine and extras....

But the session is now underway. Rain still not around.

[Everso Biggyballies]

p2 has had a few moments.... firstly Lewis did his best to kill his jack person by coming in too hot and yeah. No one hurt though.

Danny Ric I believe is having his p.u. changed and as it seems it is a pool unit no penalty at this stage.


Verstappen set to start at the back

Confirmation has come through that Max has taken on a raft of new PU components, meaning he will start from the back of the grid on Sunday. Given he has a grid drop anyway....,

Other than that Gio had a spin and went into the barriers backwards. Not the best thing to do when you are fighting to keep your drive.

But in the times Merc 1&2 with Bottas ahead with not long left.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Gasly ran wide and over the sausage kerbs at Turn 2, with the front wing catching and sliding under the car. He has limped back to the pits.

Session over....

[Everso Biggyballies]

Bottas tops FP2

Back to the timing sheets though, and Bottas finishes in the same slot as earlier. He beat his team mate home by just 0.044s, with Gasly in third. Lando in 4th Ocon 5th and Max 6th a second off the pace



POS DRIVER GAP TYRES USED
1 Valtteri BOTTAS1:33.593 5
2 Lewis HAMILTON+0.044 5
3 Pierre GASLY+0.252 4
4 Lando NORRIS+0.561 5
5 Esteban OCON+0.809 4
6 Max VERSTAPPEN+1.028 5
7 Carlos SAINZ+1.085 6
8 Fernando ALONSO+1.169 5
9 Sebastian VETTEL+1.244 5
10 Charles LECLERC+1.332 5
11 Sergio PEREZ+1.345 3
12 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN+1.459 4
13 George RUSSELL+1.501 5
14 Antonio GIOVINAZZI+1.585 4
15 Lance STROLL+1.741 5
16 Nicholas LATIFI+1.818 4
17 Daniel RICCIARDO+2.037 4
18 Yuki TSUNODA+2.361 4
19 Nikita MAZEPIN+2.506 3
20 Mick SCHUMACHER+2.637 3

Will there be any meaningful running tomorrow? Only time will tell.

[Picci]

So there is genuine concern re weather situation about the prospect of the race going through - and tomorrow in particular appears problematic. The F3 race (of all races) has been moved forward to today.

[Ruslan]

Verstappen set to start at the back

I am not sure this is the best strategy. With Leclerc starting at the rear, if Verstappen qualified 3rd and started 6th, then really the only people he would have to deal with is the two McLarens, Sainz and possibly Gasly. That kind of guarantees him third which keeps him in the hunt in the Championship point wise. If he starts in the back, no such guarantee, as this is not their best track. Most likely he will get a fifth or sixth, assuming he does not tangle with someone.

And then the new engine has to run eight races. Will it be a little tired and worn down by the end of the season? Eight races on one engine is very long run. Is that what he needs? It may force him to make one more engine change.

Lewis also needs an engine change, but if he does it in a couple of more races, he has a fresher engine at the end of the season.

[Circuitmaster]

I'm mostly worried about him wrecking his car on the way through the field.

[DoubleFart]

I'm still hopeful that Lewis bins it and wrecks the brand new engine.

[John]

Verstappen set to start at the back

I am not sure this is the best strategy. With Leclerc starting at the rear, if Verstappen qualified 3rd and started 6th, then really the only people he would have to deal with is the two McLarens, Sainz and possibly Gasly. That kind of guarantees him third which keeps him in the hunt in the Championship point wise. If he starts in the back, no such guarantee, as this is not their best track. Most likely he will get a fifth or sixth, assuming he does not tangle with someone.

And then the new engine has to run eight races. Will it be a little tired and worn down by the end of the season? Eight races on one engine is very long run. Is that what he needs? It may force him to make one more engine change.

Lewis also needs an engine change, but if he does it in a couple of more races, he has a fresher engine at the end of the season.

He has to take the penalty sooner or later anyway, might as well get another engine into the rotation now.

[Everso Biggyballies]

.... and this is possibly the easiest circuit left on the calendar to overtake at is perhaps the main reason it is taken here. Re the 8 races for the engine, dont forget they still have other engines in the pool to use for practice etc so it is not that the engine has 8 full weekends running to do. Even the engine damaged at Silverstone can be repaired enough for Friday use,just not with the reliability needed for a race engine.