US GP: Free Practice #2 - Re-Cap & Times

US GP - FREE PRACTICE #2 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the second free practice ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

    Hamilton was more than three tenths of a second faster than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in second, while title rival Sebastian Vettel could only manage third.

    Red Bull set the pace early in the session. With Hamilton and Vettel both making mistakes on their first runs it was down to Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo to swap positions at the top of the order. After the initial runs, Ricciardo was fastest, ahead of Verstappen, Hamilton, and Kimi Raikkonen.

    When the ultra-soft tyres were brought out, Hamilton jumped to the top of the times. His 1m34.668s lap was nearly a second faster than Valtteri Bottas, who had been the first to strap on the pink walled tyres.

    Verstappen, who came closest to Hamilton, finished the session nearly four tenths of a second slower. Vettel claimed third ahead of Bottas, Ricciardo, and Vettel.

    After mechanical problems confined him to the pits in the first practice session of the day, Fernando Alonso made up for lost time with the seventh fastest time in FP2. Having just signed a new deal with McLaren, Alonso’s time was just 1.6s slower than Hamilton and more than a second faster than team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, who was 15th quickest.

    Felipe Massa took eighth while Force India duo Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10.

    Carlos Sainz Jnr was again quicker than new team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, the Renault duo taking 11th and 12th.

    Daniil Kvyat was back in the Toro Rosso for the first time since the Malaysian GP. The Russian takes over Sainz’s seat after his early move to Renault but it was test driver Sean Galeal in the car for FP1. Kvyat set more laps than almost any other driver to put himself 13th in the order.

    His team-mate for the weekend, Brendon Hartley, again struggled with his helmet. He claimed it was still lifting at high speed, but wasn’t as bad as it had been in the first practice. He was 17th quickest overall.

    Both Haas drivers found themselves spinning early in the session. Romain Grosjean struggled throughout the session and told the team the aero balance needed to be changed as the car wouldn’t turn. He was the slowest in the session, while team-mate Kevin Magnussen took 14th.

    Lance Stroll was 16th quickest, just ahead of Hartley, Pascal Wehrlein, and Marcus Ericsson.

TIMES:

1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:34.668 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain
2. Max Verstappen - 1:35.065 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
3. Sebastian Vettel - 1:35.192 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
4. Valtteri Bottas - 1:35.279 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
5. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:35.463 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia
6. Kimi Raikkonen – 1:35.514 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
7. Fernando Alonso – 1:36.304 / McLaren-Honda / Spain
8. Felipe Massa – 1:36.460 / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil
9. Sergio Perez - 1:36.481 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
10. Esteban Ocon - 1:36.490 / Force India-Mercedes / France
11. Carlos Sainz - 1:36.529 / Renault-Renault / Spain
12. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:36.534 / Renault-Renault / Germany
13. Daniil Kvyat - 1:36.761 / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia
14. Kevin Magnussen - 1:37.285 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
15. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:37.7463 / McLaren-Honda / Belgium
16. Lance Stroll - 1:37.788 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
17. Brendon Hartley - 1:37.987 / Toro Rosso-Renault / New Zealand
18. Pascal Wehrlein - 1:38.165 / Sauber-Ferrari / Germany
19. Marcus Ericsson - 1:38.262 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
20. Romain Grosjean - 1:38.387 / Haas-Ferrari / France

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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