Hamilton half a second clear of Vettel as Red Bull are Mercedes' closest challengers
Tuesday 4 December 2018 17:42, UK
Lewis Hamilton led a dominant Mercedes one-two in second practice at the Russian GP, with championship rival Sebastian Vettel struggling down in fifth for Ferrari.
Hamilton topped the timesheets with a 1:33.385 on hypersoft tyres, two tenths ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and almost half a second clear of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
The Red Bulls, taking engine penalties in Sochi, were Mercedes' surprise closest challengers.
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But Vettel, desperate for a victory this weekend as he looks to cut Hamilton's 40-point title advantage, was 0.543s off the pace in fifth, with Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen a second adrift of the leading time.
Vettel also spun during the session and once again bickered with Ferrari over team radio, and admitted his day was "tricky".
"We look quite far away from the rest of the field so not ideal," he told Sky F1. "We are struggling a bit for one lap and also on the long runs.
"From just looking at ourselves it wasn't a good day. I think we have some catching up to do."
It certainly seems to be advantage Mercedes and Hamilton, winner of four of the last five grands prix, after Friday's final session drastically changed the pecking order.
Vettel had set the pace earlier in the day on hypersofts, while Mercedes opted against using the quickest compound available.
But the world champions' speed on the tyre which will most likely be used for qualifying was ominous, and leaves Ferrari on the back foot.
Sergio Perez finished best of the rest in seventh for Force India, who enjoyed a fine afternoon with Esteban Ocon ninth, while there were also impressive performances from Pierre Gasly and Marcus Ericsson.
Gasly was almost a second up on Toro Rosso team-mate Brendon Hartley and ended the session in eighth, while Marcus Ericsson outpaced Charles Leclerc at Sauber to slot into 10th.
Renault and Haas, meanwhile, will hope for improvements as they look for another run into Q3 in qualifying, with none of their drivers breaking into the top-10.
It was another tough practice for McLaren and Williams, however, as two of F1's greatest teams locked out the bottom four places.
Fernando Alonso was the lead of those cars in 17th, six tenths up on team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, while Lance Stroll was rock bottom for Williams in a mistake-ridden outing.
