By Steve Aibel, Senior F1 Writer
Lewis Hamilton led Free Practice 2 in Sochi, Russia concluding the first day of the Formula 1 weekend in Russia. Nico Rosberg brought the #6 Mercedes home in 3rd position after leading the first practice earlier on Friday.
Hamilton bested Rosberg by .867 seconds although Rosberg’s flying lap was affected by the spin and subsequent yellow flag caused by Romian Grosjean of Haas F1 Team.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel split the two Silver Arrows cars before an electrical problems ended the session for the 4 time champion. Kimi Raikkonen brought the second Ferrari home in 4th again showing the strength of these two teams.
McLaren’s Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso cracked the top 10 with Button placing in 8th position and Alonso 10th. McLaren quietly continues to improve their competitiveness each race. Sochi could easily be a track that brings McLaren success as their times in opening practice sessions have approached those of Williams and Red Bull.
Carlos Sainz continues to outperform his teammate, Max Verstappen for Toro Rosso. While Verstappen continues to get all of the publicity, Sainz is quietly going about doing his job and equaling or besting Verstappen. Saint outpaced Verstappen in both sessions on Friday in Russia.
Free Practice 2 Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:37.583 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:38.235 |
| 3 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:38.459 |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:38.793 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:39.084 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:39.185 |
| 7 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:39.193 |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:39.196 |
| 9 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:39.289 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:39.400 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:39.465 |
| 12 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:39.882 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:39.795 |
| 14 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:39.867 |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1:40.193 |
| 16 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:40.260 |
| 17 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 1:40.508 |
| 18 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:40.688 |
| 19 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:40.740 |
| 20 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1:41.080 |
| 21 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1:41.148 |
| 22 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:41.652 |
Image: Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team
