China – FP2: The two Ferraris dominate the session
The match is on: in the second session of Friday's race, the two Ferraris managed to beat the two Mercedes. Esteban Gutierrez again had technical problems, while Kevin Magnussen didn't get a chance to drive.
For this second practice session, the first piece of news was that Fernando Alonso was able to participate. Indeed, following his return during the first session, the Spanish driver went back before the FIA’s medical board, which gave him the green light for the rest of the weekend. He will therefore be able to participate in the rest of the weekend.
On the other hand, Kevin Magnussen was not able to take to the track as Renault decided to continue the investigation into the puncture the Dane suffered during the first practice session. Thus, the decision was made not to have him return to the track for the rest of the day.
After missing the first session due to electronic issues, Esteban Gutierrez hoped to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, this was not the case for him as after only four laps, the brakes on his car exceeded 1000°C, once again confining his car to the pits.
Far from these concerns, the Ferraris and Mercedes sought performance through their super soft tires. In this little game, it was Kimi Räikkönen who ended with the best performance of the day, a tiny tenth ahead of his teammate, Sebastian Vettel. Both drivers will have had the satisfaction of dominating their Mercedes rivals in the one-lap performance exercise, which has been their main weakness since the start of the season.
The two teams are clearly detached from the rest of the pack, led by Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull. The Australian was ahead of Max Verstappen, Nico Hülkenberg, Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Perez, while Valtteri Bottas completed the top 10.
