Lewis Hamilton is favourite to take pole position after setting the quickest time in FP2
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The two Silver Arrows cars were split by the Ferrari of
Sebastian Vettel, but the German driver could complete just 10 laps
after his car was down with an electronics issue. Moreover, he needs a
gearbox change, which will see him incur a five-place grid penalty for
the race on Sunday. The Maranello-based team have so far struggled to
have an incident-free race weekend, and will start on the back foot yet
again. Kimi Raikkonen had a trouble-free Friday, but was unable to make
full use of the SuperSoft compound tyres as he failed to match his
teammate's pace on the low fuel runs.
The Red Bulls look competitive yet again and will be
Ferrari's main challengers and are likely to be ahead of at least one
Ferrari after qualifying, which will give them an edge in the race. The
power requirement on this track is high, which could hamper the
Renault-powered cars slightly during the race, but their superior
chassis should help them compete with the Ferrari duo, as the Mercedes
cars look to be on another level in terms of pace in Russia.
Jenson Button set an encouraging time during FP2 to give
McLaren-Honda hopes of finally making it to Q3. The Briton will hope
that he can sustain the pace in the race to garner his first points of
the season. The Woking-based team have just one point thus far, which
was scored by reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne, when he stood in for the
injured Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Where to watch live
The third free practice session begins at 10am BST on Saturday and the qualifying session at 1pm BST. Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports F1 HD will provide live coverage of both events in the UK.Real-time internet updates are available on the Live Timing section of the sport's official website.
Top 10 positions following FP2 at the Sochi Autodromo, Russia:
| POS. | DRIVER | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | LEWIS HAMILTON | 1:37.583 | |
| 2 | SEBASTIAN VETTEL | 1:38.235 | +0.652s |
| 3 | NICO ROSBERG | 1:38.450 | +0.867s |
| 4 | KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN | 1:38.793 | +1.210s |
| 5 | DANIEL RICCIARDO | 1:39.084 | +1.501s |
| 6 | VALTTERI BOTTAS | 1:39.185 | +1.602s |
| 7 | DANIIL KVYAT | 1:39.193 | +1.610s |
| 8 | JENSON BUTTON | 1:39.196 | +1.613s |
| 9 | FELIPE MASSA | 1:39.289 | +1.706s |
| 10 | FERNANDO ALONSO | 1:39.400 | +1.817s |
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