Mercedes headed the standings in FP2 of F1 Tuscan GP with Valtteri Bottas leading Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.
It was an important FP2 session in F1 Tuscan GP at Mugello with teams and drivers having to collect as much data for Sunday’s race to help them with strategy, but they were hit by multiple red flags and yellow flags as well to hamper their progress.
The first red flag was for McLaren’s Lando Norris when he ran over the kerb and had a slight twitch on the gravel to hit the barrier and lose his front wing. The second one was for a bizarre incident between Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen.
Perez was leaving the pitlane with Raikkonen turning into Turn 1 when the Mexican clipped the rear of the Finn, sending him onto the gravel. Both managed to continue but had damage as red flag was waved to clear the debris shed on the track.
The qualifying trim, though, was completed by most as Mercedes’ Bottas (1m16.989s) lead the way again from Hamilton (1m17.196s) and Red Bull’s Verstappen (1m17.235s). Teammate Alexander Albon (1m17.971s) did well to be fourth.
Bottas was the only one to dip into the 1m16s as Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m18.039s) was fifth from teammate Esteban Ocon (1m18.115s), while Perez (1m18.198s) slotted in seventh ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m18.244s).
The Top 10 was rounded out by Raikkonen (1m18.385s) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m18.400s) with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll (1m18.462s) 11th ahead of his future F1 teammate Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (1m18.498s).
The German had an engine trouble after the Tuscan GP FP2 session as he came to a halt trackside. He also had a spin early on in the session to cause a yellow flag. His time was good enough to be ahead of the two McLaren drivers with Carlos Sainz (1m18.651s) in 13th from Norris, who couldn’t do a qualifying trim.
His 1m18.658s lap was set on the medium compound as AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat (1m18.736s) was 15th as Williams’ George Russell (1m18.836s) was 16th. The Brit was part of the a new feature of F1 where he commentated on a lap around Mugello at the start of FP2.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi (1m18.944s) slotted in 17th with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m18.893s) 18th while the two Haas drivers rounded out the standings where Kevin Magnussen (1m19.113s) was 19th and Romain Grosjean (1m19.257s) 20th, with the latter sitting out due to a battery issue.
UPDATE: Following the coming together of Perez and Raikkonen, the stewards handed a 1-place grid drop for the Mexican for Tuscan GP.
#F1 #TuscanGP Perez to drop one position on the starting grid as a penalty after his collision with Raikkonen. (In full) #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/odwhKVVtf6
— #MsportXtra (@MsportXtra) September 11, 2020
Here’s the full: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2020%20Tuscan%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Offence%20-%20Car%2011%20-%20collision%20with%20car%207.pdf
Here’s how F1 Tuscan GP FP1 panned out