Formula 1 | Bottas surprises in free practice 2 at Losail, Gasly behind him

Valtteri Bottas confirms an amazing state of form in the second free practice session valid for the Qatar Grand Prix, the third to last round of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. The Finn from Mercedes, protagonist of a great pace in both the race and qualifying simulations , stopped the clock at 1'23"148, about two tenths faster than Pierre Gasly's surprising AlphaTauri, which confirmed itself in the top areas of the standings after this morning's exploit. The Finn worked mainly with medium tyres, obtaining a lot of good data which the team will need to perfect the set-up for tomorrow.

Third position for Max Verstappen, slowed down during the afternoon by some "trouble" with the DRS system (few laps in the race configuration), followed by Lewis Hamilton, not satisfied with the feeling with the car, Lando Norris and an excellent Lance Stroll, appearing fit with a newfound Aston Martin. followed by Yuki Tsunoda, Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel. The first Ferrari, that of Carlos Sainz, completes the ranking of the top ten.

Only 13th was Charles Leclerc, who preferred, together with his teammate, to dedicate today to finding the best set-up. The real qualifying simulation has therefore been moved to tomorrow. See you tomorrow, 11.30 am, for the third and final free practice session from Losail. Teams and drivers will have an hour of work available before qualifying scheduled for 15.00 pm.

🏁 END OF FP2 🏁

Valtteri Bottas finishes Friday fastest 🚀#QatarGP 🇶🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Fbb6gFWSaq

- Formula 1 (@ F1) November 19, 2021