Imola GP: Russell leads for Mercedes in dry Practice 2

George Russell set the pace as teams got their first proper dry running of the weekend in Practice 2 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

With the 21-lap Sprint and 63-lap Grand Prix to come on Saturday and Sunday, the focus was on long-run pace as teams evaluated the relative performance of the tyre compounds around Imola.

For Mercedes though, the hour was a good time to continue learning and understanding their problems on the W13, potentially explaining why Russell was P1 and Lewis Hamilton P4.

Sergio Perez set the pace for much of the session in the Red Bull, ultimately finishing just under a tenth behind the lead Silver Arrow in second.

Ferrari though waited later to move up the timesheet as Charles Leclerc claimed third and Carlos Sainz, who was back in the car after his crash in qualifying, sixth.

Fernando Alonso was fifth while Sprint race polesitter Max Verstappen was only seventh fastest.

Following their disappointing Q1 exit in qualifying, AlphaTauri had both cars in the top 10 in eighth and ninth with Zhou Guanyu completing the top 10 for Alfa Romeo.

Alex Albon was 11th after Williams successfully repaired his car after a wrong setting caused the right-rear brake to catch fire in Q1.

He led the two Haas’ of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher, with the Dane preparing to start the Sprint from P4.

Aston Martin followed in 14th and 15th ahead of Esteban Ocon and Nicholas Latifi.

It was a bad session for McLaren though as an engine issue prevented Daniel Ricciardo from running at all and brake issues limited Lando Norris to just six laps.

Also unable to go out was Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo, as the team fixed an exhaust issue on his car. 

Full results from Practice 2 can be seen below: