Posted on 10th October 2015
In the second practice session in Russia, Williams driver Felipe Massa topped the timesheets ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas in a disrupted session at the Sochi circuit due to the rain hitting the track; which only eight drivers set a time during the session.
After a diesel spillage prevented any meaningful running in the first practice session, rain ahead of FP2 meant drivers were unable to use slick tyres throughout the 90 minute session. The rain got progressively worse during the session and the best times were set on full wet tyres as the drivers struggled to get grip during their runs.
The wet weather means there was no running on the super-soft tyre in FP2 and a very limited amount of laps on the soft tyre in FP1. As a result teams will go into final practice on Saturday morning with a lot to learn ahead of qualifying in the afternoon and Sunday’s race.
Six drivers opted not to leave the pits altogether, believing there was little reason to do so with rain not forecast again for the rest of the weekend. However, Toro Rosso signed off the session by telling Max Verstappen to save his tyres as they will “probably” need them for Sunday.
But it was Felipe Massa who topped the timesheets with a lap time of 2.00.458 ahead of Sebastian Vettel in second place who was 0.201 seconds behind him but was ahead of his team mate Valtteri Bottas who finished in third place who was 0.230 seconds behind the Williams of Massa.
Max Verstappen finished the session in fourth place ahead of Fernando Alonso in fifth place, Daniil Kvyat in sixth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in seventh place and Jenson Button in eighth place.
As a result of the rain, Nico Rosberg, Marcus Ericsson, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Nasr, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean, Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens did not set a time.
The classification of FP2 for the Russian GP is as follows:-
1. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 2.00.458
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.201s
3. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 0.230s
4. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 0.348s
5. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 0.619s
6. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Renault, 0.960s
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 2.347s
8. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 2.387s
9. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, No Time
10. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, No Time
11. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, No Time
12. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, No Time
13. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes No Time
14. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, No Time
15. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, No Time
16. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, No Time
17. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, No Time
18. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, No Time
19. Roberto Merhi, Manor, No Time
20. Will Stevens, Manor, No Time
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
