Max Verstappen upset the form book by setting the quickest time in Practice 2 at the Russian Grand Prix.
Facing a five-place grid penalty for a new Honda V6 engine, the extra power allowed the Dutchman to match Ferrari in the first two sectors before pulling ahead in the twisty last sector, posting a 1m33.162s on the soft compound tyre.
He would sit three-tenths clear of Charles Leclerc in second as the Monegasque continued to outpace teammate Sebastian Vettel by a considerable margin.
On this occasion, it was 0.7s between the pair with the four-time world champion down in fifth.
In between them, the two Mercedes’ are either yet to show their hand or are unexpectedly struggling around the Sochi circuit where they have never lost.
Valtteri Bottas continued to have the edge over Lewis Hamilton with a tenth-and-a-half the gap, but the Finn was over six-tenths down on Verstappen in P1.
Like his former teammate, Pierre Gasly was likely also benefitting from his fresh Honda engine in sixth for Toro Rosso.
Highlighting how tight the midfield is, P6-P8 would be covered by just over half a tenth as Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg closely followed the Frenchman.
Lance Stroll also backed up Racing Point’s apparent improvement in ninth.
Alex Albon was involved in a scary near-miss with Lewis Hamilton rounding Turn 3 during the long run, with the Mercedes having to take avoiding action at over 170mph in the long left-hander.
The Thai driver has also lost much of the session as the team changed the floor on his Red Bull, with two late laps moving him up to 10th.
That would bump Lando Norris down to 11th in the McLaren as the British team failed to get either car into the would-be Q3 places in any of the two sessions.
Following his mechanical issues in the morning, Daniil Kvyat returned to his home track in the afternoon and can be satisfied in 12th.
It was still quite a scruffy practice for the Russian though, including a nervous moment with teammate Gasly, as the Frenchman nearly ran into the back of him after Kvyat had left the pits.
Daniel Ricciardo ended first practice red-faced having slid into the barrier in the final seconds and again struggled for pace in 14th for Renault.
Likewise, Carlos Sainz was only a lowly 17th in the second McLaren after being frustrated by traffic during his first flying lap.
While the gaps are close, it appears the pressure is on at Haas and Alfa Romeo to avoid Q1 eliminations as Kevin Magnussen and Kimi Raikkonen led their respective teams in 13th and 15th.
Finally, George Russell closed the gap to eight-tenths on the rest of the grid in 19th, leading Williams teammate Robert Kubica by a second.
With drivers struggling for grip though on the smooth surface and a strong need for precision through the deceptively tricky corners, keeping mistakes to a minimum will be critical.
Add to that a threat of rain on Saturday and Sunday and there’s still plenty of unknowns as a highly competitive weekend awaits.
Final results from second practice can be seen below:
