Portuguese GP: Williams Racing repeats mixed results in FP2


By Andrew Hooper
April 30 2021

The second Friday session for the 2021 Portuguese GP would again see the Williams Racing Team come away with a very mixed result. The session would see george Russell finish in an encouraging 13th having set his quickest time on the soft tyre. But for team-mate Nicholas Latifi he would finish well down the order in 19th around 0.9s off his team-mates time. So with the end of Friday practice the positon that Nicholas finds himself in is a difficult one, hopfully he can turn things around come Saturday.

 
 Williams Racing Portuguese GP Friday 2nd Practice
 
Latifi
 

Team Summary:
The second Friday practice session for the 2021 Portuguese would commence with a delay with lose drain cover. This would cause a rush of drivers coming out with a mix of medium and hard tyres being used as the session got underway. Both Williams drivers were out early in the session as we had the whole field running. Only Mazepin was on the hard all the rest the medium. A 1m:21.687 from Ocon but quickly Leclerc would move ahead. A rush of times would be set and the Williams drivers would set times but drop to 14th and 15th with Nicholas leading George. After the initial laps it would be Bottas, 1nM;20.423, followed by Sainz and Hamilton. Perez was fourth followed by Gasly, Verstappen, Leclerc, Alonso, Norris and Ricciardo tenth. The Williams drivers were 13th and 18th after their first runs prior to pitting. After a sensor issue Verstappen would return running on the medium tyre.

Verstappen would then go quickest with a 1m:20.322 followed by Bottas we had both Mercedes out on the soft tyre. They were joined by Vettel. Hamilton would go quickest with a 1m:19.837 moving ahead of Bottas who had set a 1m:20.181. There was a rush of drivers coming out all on the soft tyre including both Williams. After their first soft tyre run they would be 13th and 18th. Sainz was now third followed by Alonso, Verstappen, Leclerc, Ocon, Stroll, Perez, and Ricciardo tenth. Ocon would move up to fifth behind Alonso. Verstappen had moved into second behind Hamilton while Perez was now only 10th. With twenty minutes remaining the order was Hamilton from Verstappen, Bottas, Sainz, Alonso, Ocon, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Stroll and Perez. The Williams pair were still 13th and 18th.

As the session drew to a close the teams had their drivers out doing longer runs with a mix of soft and medium tyres being used. Both Williams drivers were running with George on the soft and Nicholas the medium. With the final minutes of the session commencing there would be little change in the order as drivers worked on longer runs including both Williams. So the session would end with Hamilton remaining quickest from Verstappen, Bottas, Sainz, Alonso, Ocon, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Stroll and Perez tenth. The Williams drivers would remain in their 13th and 19th positions. An encouraging result for George but a disappointing one from Nicholas who has been well off the pace in both Friday sessions.

George Russell:
George was first out in the session running on the medium tyre. His first lap time was a 1m:23.892 to be sixth behind his team-mate. This would become tenth and then quickly 15th. he would improve with a 1m:22.518 to be 14th. This would become 18th to be one place ahead of his team-mate. George would improve with a 1m:21.602 to be 13th. he would pit after a nine lap run. George would return for a soft tyre run but a 1m:21.026 would see him remain 13th. A 1m:20.976 from George would see him remain 13th pitting after a seven lap run. With eighteen minutes remaining George would return this time on the medium tyre but he would switch to the soft. With the end of the session George would complete fourteen laps on the soft tyre.

Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas was also out running on the medium. Nicholas would set a 1m:23.778 to be fifth ahead of team-mate George. He would drop to ninth. Quickly he would drop to 14th. This would become 19th even though he had set a 1m:23.113. he would improve with a 1m:22.332 to be now 18th. After a nine lap run he would pit. Nicholas's next run was on the soft tyre and would set a 1m:22.240 to be 17th, dropping to 18th. A 1m:21.855 would see him remain 18th. Nicholas would go off the track at Turn eight taking a trip across the gravel. Nicholas would lose control under brakes. He would return to his pit. Nicholas would also come out on the medium for his next run. He would drop to 19th as we had a Haas on the soft tyre would move past. On the mediums he would complete fifteen laps with the end of the session.

 
Russell
 
Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap
1  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 33 1'19.837  
2  Max Verstappen Red Bull 26 1'19.980 0.143
3  Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 28 1'20.181 0.344
4  Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 33 1'20.197 0.360
5  Fernando Alonso Alpine 32 1'20.220 0.383
6  Esteban Ocon Alpine 31 1'20.235 0.398
7  Charles Leclerc Ferrari 33 1'20.360 0.523
8  Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 31 1'20.418 0.581
9  Lance Stroll Aston Martin 31 1'20.427 0.590
10  Sergio Perez Red Bull 28 1'20.516 0.679
11  Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 34 1'20.558 0.721
12  Lando Norris McLaren 28 1'20.757 0.920
13  George Russell Williams 32 1'20.976 1.139
14  Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 33 1'21.053 1.216
15  Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 32 1'21.074 1.237
16  Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 22 1'21.225 1.388
17  Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 32 1'21.238 1.401
18  Mick Schumacher Haas 29 1'21.537 1.700
19  Nicholas Latifi Williams 31 1'21.855 2.018
20  Nikita Mazepin Haas 28 1'22.638 2.801
 
Latifi
 

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Portuguese GP: Williams Racing repeats mixed results in FP2
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 30/04/2021 17:12
Williams F1
30/04/2021 17:12
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