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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen went quicker than Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in the second free practice session of the Qatar Grand Prix on Friday. Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas set the quickest time of the session.
Although Verstappen only managed to clock the third fastest lap, it was enough to outpace his British title challenger by less than a tenth of a second.
Bottas, who set the fastest lap of 1 minute and 23.148 seconds, was followed by Pierre Gasly, who clocked the second fastest time. The smooth, flat track suited the Finn’s aggressive driving style as he outpaced Hamilton by a significant margin.
Bottas was quicker than Gasly by 0.209 seconds and Verstappen by 0.350 seconds. While the gap between Verstappen and Hamilton was marginal, the same cannot be said about the difference in lap times between Bottas and Hamilton.
The Finn outpaced the Brit by 0.422 seconds as the seven-time world champion struggled to nail his racing line around the circuit.
Meanwhile, McLaren's Lando Norris clocked the fifth fastest lap, followed by Aston Martin's Lance Stroll. Alpha Tauri driver Yuki Tsunoda went seventh fastest and was followed by Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez.
Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel could only set the ninth fastest time, closely followed by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz who was the 10th fastest driver in FP2.
Lewis Hamilton unable to nail racing line in second free practice session of the Qatar Grand Prix
While Verstappen was plagued by rear-wing issues, Lewis Hamilton slid wide several times and struggled on worn tires.
Due to temperatures dropping from beginning to end of the session and the smooth asphalt, grip levels increased, resulting in faster lap times towards the end.
Most drivers opted to acclimatize themselves to the new circuit by getting as much track time and mileage on their cars as possible. Due to the lack of historical data available for the Losail International circuit, it was important for all drivers to stay out on track as much as they could.
Nikita Mazepin was the only driver to sit out the practice session as he suffered chassis damage in FP1.
Due to the smooth tarmac and Pirelli’s hardest compound tyres allocated for the weekend, tyre degradation is expected to be minimal.
Full FP2 Results for F1 Qatar Grand Prix 2021
The full Qatar Grand Prix FP2 full classification is as follows :
