French GP Practice Two: On-song Lewis Hamilton at the double for Mercedes, Ferrari off the pace

An in-form Lewis Hamilton topped Practice Two by well over half a second as Mercedes laid down an ominous marker to their rivals at the French GP.

Hamilton, who led a Silver Arrow one-two in the first session, made it a Friday double in some style later in the day as he outpaced Daniel Ricciardo by 0.704s, with Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen just behind.

Though Valtteri Bottas was unable to take part in the qualifying-runs on ultrasoft tyres due to a cooling problem and finished down in seventh, Hamilton’s pace proved the immediate success of Mercedes’ new ‘2.1’ spec engine.

Mercedes have now confirmed the upgrade, which is being used on all six cars in France and thought to be worth at least a tenth in lap time, and it seems Hamilton is reaping the benefits.

“The new engine feels clean and fresh, but we won’t really know its full potential until tomorrow when everyone gets to turn their engines up,” said Hamilton.

McLaren reject ‘staff mutiny’ reports
Mercedes debut ‘2.1’ spec new engines
The Formula 1 Gossip column

Title rival Sebastian Vettel endured another frustrating session, however, finishing more than a second behind the driver he leads by a single point in the championship standings.

Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was a place ahead in fourth, but still 0.887s off Hamilton.

But the Scuderia have been the main ‘sandbaggers’ of Friday practice this season – so a challenge for Saturday’s qualifying session and beyond is certainly not out of the question.

Much like Practice One when Marcus Ericsson’s blazing Sauber caused a red flag, there was another bizarre stoppage in the session when Sergio Perez inexplicably, for now at least, lost a wheel while on a flying lap.

2:16 Force India's Sergio Perez red flags session in Practice 2 ahead of the French GP.

The Force India driver, just before the halfway point of P2, was going through the high-speed Turn Seven when his left rear tyre came loose, rolling down the circuit and causing him to spin off.

Fortunately the tyre didn’t interfere with another driver – but the FIA are investigating the incident.

Romain Grosjean enjoyed another impressive session at his home race for Haas, once again finishing best of the rest in sixth, just one hundredth behind Vettel.

Fernando Alonso was a significant improver, ending eighth for a McLaren team who have been trialing new parts on their car on F1’s return to France and Paul Ricard.

How to follow the French GP on Sky F1

Rounding off the top 10 were Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly, with Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz 11th and 12th; Renault as yet unable to lead the midfield at their home GP as hoped.

Charles Leclerc was the sole Sauber in action thanks to Ericsson’s P1 fire and was solid on his way to 14th, followed by Brendon Hartley who appeared to suffer a failure In his Honda-powered Toro Rosso.

Apart from Perez, whose session was essentially ended prematurely, Williams’ Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin were the slowest drivers on track, an all too familiar story for the underperforming Grove team.

French GP Practice Two Timesheet

Comment below to get involved in the debate, but please adhere to our House Rules. If you wish to report any comment, simply click on the down arrow next to the offending comment and click ‘Report’.

Will it be Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull on top as F1 returns to Paul Ricard for the first leg of an unprecedented triple header? Watch the French GP exclusively live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Get Sky Sports F1.

Also See:

• When’s the French GP on Sky?
• Find out more about Sky Sports F1
• F1 2018: Results and race schedule
• Tune in to watch Sky Go

Sourse: skysports.com