Practice 2 Report - Rain again, Rosberg again

The rain had stopped during the break between the sessions, but it began to rain again before FP2 began. And, as in FP1, Nico Rosberg topped the times in his Mercedes.

The ambient air temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), and the track temperature was 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius.)

Max Chilton (Marussia) was the first to venture out on the wet track.

He did two laps and pitted. Heikki Kovalainen set out next in his Lotus. He stayed out to post the first time of the session: 1:31.658. On his next tour he set a 1:31.210. And he lowered that to a 1:30.537 before pitting having completed five laps.

Then Jules Bianchi (Marussia) became the sole runner. His first lap was a 1:34.858. His next was a 1:34.565 and the following a 1:33.670.

8 minutes into the session, Mark Webber (Red Bull) joined Bianchi on the Interlagos circuit. His first timed lap was a 1:30.645. As he continued to circulate he lowered his time to a 1:29.088.

33 minutes into the session, Nico Rosberg crossed the line in his Mercedes with a time of 1:28.873.

"Okay, I think that is enough for me," he radioed in to the Mercedes pit.

At this stage only four drivers had set times. The rest were in the pits, conserving their rain tires and not risking wrecking their cars in the tricky conditions.

36 minutes into the session, Nico Hulkenberg moved up to third with a time of 1:30.449 in his Sauber. He then trimmed that down to a 1:30.088, which was exactly one second slower than Webber.

42 minutes into the session, as the rain continued to fall, Romain Grosjean headed out in his Lotus and went third fastest with a 1:29.495.

Midway through the soaking FP2 Daniel Ricciardo moved up to fourth with a 1:29.862 in his Toro Rosso.

With 30 minutes remaining in the session, the top six were: Rosberg, Webber, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg and Kovalainen. Only 14 drivers had set times.

Those who had not ventured out were: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Ferrari teammates Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, Jenson Button (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Jules Vergne (Toro Rosso.)

And the rain continued to fall. So the track was wet enough that the extreme rain tires had to be fitted to the car. So Pirelli's prototype 2014 slick tires remained unused.

With 22 minutes remaining in the session, Esteban Gutierrez moved up to sixth with a time of 1:30.193 in his Sauber. Alonso was not out in his Ferrari and running the intermediate tires instead of the extreme wets. Massa, also on intermediates, headed out as well.

Alonso was on the move, setting the fastest time in Sector 1, slowing a bit in Sector 2, and fastest in Sector 3 to jump up to second with a 1:29.410. Massa could only manage 11th best.

With 14 minutes remaining in the session, Webber, on intermediates, was back out on a track that was a bit better now that the rain had eased off.

With 12 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel headed out for the first time. So did Button and Hamilton.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel clocked a 1:29.800, which was fifth fastest. On his next tour he turned a 1:28.939, which was second best.

With 8 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton had a spin at Turn 5.

With 7 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel was on a flier and he topped the times with a 1:27.993.

With 5 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton took over third place with a 1:28.974. Only three drivers were in the pits at this stage.

With 3 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel turned a 1:27.531 and Webber crossed the line with a 1:27.829 so the Red Bulls were now first and second. Rosberg was third at 1:28.693.

With so many cars out there, 20, the racing line was drying.

With 1 minute to go, Rosberg was back on top with a 1:27.306.

The top 10 at the end of FP2 were: Rosberg, Vettel, Webber, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Vergne, Massa, Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) and Grosjean.