Vettel and Ferrari fastest in practice for Russian GP
SOCHI, Russia — Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel recovered after a spin in the first practice session Friday and set the fastest time of the day ahead of this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix.
Vettel set a time of 1 minute, 34.120 seconds in the second session. That was .263 seconds faster than teammate Kimi Raikkonen in a strong showing for Ferrari on a track which had been widely expected to favour Mercedes.
Valtteri Bottas was .670 seconds off Vettel’s place to claim, with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton fourth. Max Verstappen held onto the fifth-fastest time even though his Red Bull broke down with about 20 minutes remaining on a warm, dry day at the Olympic Park.
Earlier, Raikkonen led the first session, narrowly ahead of Bottas and Hamilton, with Verstappen fourth and Vettel fifth.