Lewis Hamilton responded with a blistering lap in FP2 at the Sochi Autodrom to go seven-tenths clear of Sebastian Vettel in second position.
It appeared Hamilton was struggling in opening practice, spinning on two occasions, but the Briton responded by setting the fastest lap in second practice.
Vettel was forced to pull his Ferrari to the side of the circuit due to another engine related issue. He ended FP2 ahead of Nico Rosberg and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was best of the rest in fifth, 1.501s off the pace set by Hamilton. Williams look to be closely matched with Red Bull in Sochi with Ricciardo, Bottas and Kvyat separated by just two-tenths of a second.
McLaren will be encouraged with Jenson Button’s pace, he ended second practice in eighth place.
Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10 positions.
Manor Racing’s Pascal Wehrlein was forced to stop on circuit at the close of the session.
Final practice for the Russian Grand Prix gets underway at 1000 BST on Saturday morning.
