Summary

  • Verstappen fastest in second practice, Hamilton nearly crashes into Albon

  • Leclerc fastest in first practice, Kvyat breaks down at home race, Ricciardo crashes

  • Get involved #bbcf1

  1. We'll be back at 09:30 BST tomorrowpublished at 14:57 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    So Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen top the two practice sessions for today, and as Toto Wolff says, Mercedes are off the pace.

    Speaking in the press conference yesterday, Hamilton said he hasn't yet done a perfect lap this season and he believes he can "squeeze more out of the car, more out of [himself]", so what can we expect for tomorrow?

    Read Andrew Benson's report, and listen to the Chequered Flag podcast and we'll be back tomorrow from 09:30 BST.

    Red Bull carImage source, Getty Images
  2. Postpublished at 14:48 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Toto Wolff, Mercedes team boss, is speaking to Sky Sports: "Negative day to put it bluntly. We are off the pace and struggling to find the right form. We haven't really improved, we didn't put a lot of effort into developing the car so that might be a reason and it seems like other have dis-proportionally gained and we haven't.

    The last three races were not able to qualify on pole anymore, we were lacking the straight-line speed and not being able to make it up in the corners."

    Is it Bottas' circuit? "I think this is really Valtteri's track. The mirror like surface is what he likes and he's very fast here" Wolff says. "If we manager to unlock the potential in car for the race, he has the potential to win."

  3. 'The car comes alive'published at 14:46 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Max Verstappen says: "The last sector has been really good and the car comes alive. It's important especially because in Singapore it was a struggle."

    Verstappen says he's not disappointed about the penalties, and added: "Let's see on the weather, hopefully the car will work in the wet, from today it's looking positive [for us]."

  4. Postpublished at 14:38 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live

    Do you think it is a straight fight between Verstappen and Leclerc?

    "No, because Verstappen has got a five-place grid drop.

    "I would go for Leclerc v Bottas...with a wildcard of Verstappen, Hamilton or Vettel."

    So it's anyone's race then Jolyon?

  5. chequered flag

    Max Verstappen quickest in FP2published at 14:34 British Summer Time 27 September 2019
    Breaking

    Max VerstappenImage source, Reuters

    Red Bull and Ferrari are looking quick, but Mercedes have historically had the most success here in qualifying and in the race - all bar one pole position by Sebastian Vettel in Ferrari in 2017.

    1. Max Verstappen
    2. Charles Leclerc
    3. Valtteri Bottas
    4. Lewis Hamilton
    5. Sebastian Vettel
    6. Pierre Gasly
    7. Sergio Perez
    8. Nico Hulkenberg
    9. Lance Stroll
    10. Alex Albon
  6. Radio message - Magnussenpublished at 14:31 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    "Slow down. Slow the car, slow the car, we have a problem."

    HOUSTON!

  7. Postpublished at 14:31 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Alex Albon slots in 10th for his final lap of the day, 2.054 sec away from his team-mate up in the number one spot. Granted, he didn't have a lot of running in this session.

  8. Postpublished at 14:29 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Pierre Gasly getting rowdy at a Ferrari in his way. Lots of swearing over the radio.

    Final laps of the day.

  9. Six minutes to gopublished at 14:24 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Looks like Max Verstappen is going to win this one.

  10. Postpublished at 14:21 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Re 14:15, ahhh there we go.

    This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    Skip twitter post

    Allow Twitter content?

    This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    End of twitter post
  11. Postpublished at 14:18 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Lewis Hamilton just narrowly missed taking out Alex Albon.

    Hamilton overtook on the inside on of the bend... like one of those annoying drivers who undertake on the motorway, and then scowl at you through the window.

  12. Postpublished at 14:18 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    The Red Bull pit crew spent much of FP2 trying to fix floor damage in Alex Albon's car.

    By the looks of these pictures, it's pretty clear the floor of the Red Bull was dragging on the surface of the Sochi track. Not ideal...

    Alex AlbonImage source, Reuters
  13. Postpublished at 14:18 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live

    In response to Norris' radio message...

    They're raised, whereas the red and white painted ones are flat.

    If you can take that, sometimes it can put a lot of energy into the gear box and the drive shaft. The more you use them you can go quicker through Turn Two, but at what cost.

  14. Radio message - Verstappenpublished at 14:16 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Engineer: "Max, your rear brake balance is set to minus two."

    "How did that happen?"

  15. Postpublished at 14:15 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    When is "long run corner with Andrew Benson" going to start?

  16. Radio message - To Norrispublished at 14:15 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    "Lando you've been doing the right thing, please continue to stay off the orange kerbs."

    Lando NorrisImage source, Getty Images
  17. Postpublished at 14:12 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Claire Cottingham
    BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporter

    Good news for Alex Albon, they have put the car back together after the team have reported some floor damage. It looks like he's got his tyres back on and his front wing so it looks like he's going to go out for the last 10 minutes.

  18. Listen to the podcastpublished at 14:10 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    The Russian Grand Prix preview is up with the team.

    Download it here.

    FerrariImage source, .
  19. Postpublished at 14:10 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Max Verstappen goes off the track at Turn Two, but he manages to avoid binning it into the wall.

  20. Tyre options this weekendpublished at 14:07 British Summer Time 27 September 2019

    Hards are the C2, mediums are C3, and softs and C4.

    tyresImage source, Pirelli