Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two in second practice for the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom, nearly half a second clear of Max Verstappen in third.
Verstappen led for a large chuck of the session for Red Bull with his qualifying simulation on the hyper-soft tyre. Hamilton chipped away slowly but surely at the Dutchman’s time.
The championship leader then set a 1m33.385s to elevate himself to the head of the timesheets, over four-tenths clear of Verstappen.
Valtteri Bottas later also usurped Verstappen, the Finn lapping just within two-tenths of Hamilton.
Daniel Ricciardo ended the session fourth, just a shade behind his team-mate, while FP1 leader Sebastian Vettel spear-headed Ferrari’s attack ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in fifth and sixth places respectively.
Sergio Perez made sure Force India led the midfield battle once again in seventh, although only just ahead of the impressive Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly just over a hundredth behind.
Esteban Ocon backed up his team-mate’s speed in ninth position, despite being compromised by Verstappen in the final sector of his hotlap. Ocon was only a hundredth behind Gasly, while Marcus Ericsson put in a good showing for Sauber to round out the top ten.
It was an understated session for the fourth-place constructors’ battle challengers, with Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz Jr leading the Haas and Renault’s charges in 11th and 12th respectively.
Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean could only manage 14th and 15th respectively as the two squads focussed on their long-run simulations.
Home hero Sergey Sirotkin closed out Friday nearly two-tenths quicker than team-mate Lance Stroll, albeit with the two Williams classified just 19th and 20th.
