German GP 2016

JULY 29, 2016

Practice 2 Report - The Repeat

Nico Rosberg
© The Cahier Archive

 

By Dan Knutson in Hockenheim

Nico Rosberg repeated his Free Practice 1 performance by being fastest in Free Practice 2 as well. And, as in FP1, his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton wound up second and some three to four-tenths of a second slower. While Sebastian Vettel repeated his FP1 third place, the good news for Vettel and Ferrari is that they were "only" six tenths of a second slower than Rosberg compared to 1.1 seconds in FP1.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Centigrade.) There was a 60 percent chance of rain.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull TAG Heuer - Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Renault - Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer. Toro Rosso Ferrari - Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz. Sauber Ferrari - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Manor Mercedes - Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto. Haas Ferrari - Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez.

Rosberg had been quickest in FP1 with a time of 1:15.517 on the super soft Pirellis. Haryanto and Nasr got things going in FP2. Vettel became the first driver to slide wide at Turn 1. During FP1 the drivers combined to exceed the track limits at Turn 1 a total of 93 times! One driver alone went off 14 times.

Vettel also posted the early fast lap time - 1:18.433 - on the soft compound Pirellis. Hulkenberg beat that with a 1:18.363.

Eight minutes into FP1 every driver but Hamilton was out on the track.

"Information from race control, they are now going to be strict in applying track limits," Ferrari radioed to Raikkonen.

Ricciardo, on the soft tires, posted a 1:17.716 eleven minutes into the session. A few minutes later, Rosberg did a 1:17.415 on the softs, only to have Hamilton on the softs post a 1:17.067.

Twenty minutes into FP1 the order was: Hamilton, Rosberg, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Button, Kvyat and Bottas. Soon everybody was in the pits preparing for their qualifying simulations.

Then Haryanto headed out on the super soft Pirellis. He had the track to himself as he turned a 1:18.591, which put him, temporarily, up to eighth place. Now other drivers began their runs on the super softs.

Hulkenberg grabbed first place with a 1:16.781. Raikkonen wrenched that away with a 1:16.512. Ricciardo went back on top with a 1:16.490, but not for long as Rosberg turned a 1:15.614. As in FP1, Hamilton had a messy lap and could not beat Rosberg as he clocked a 1:16.008 on his run.

Next Verstappen moved into third place with a time of 1:16.456. Haryanto had now been demoted down to 18th.

With 50 minutes remaining, the top 10 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Button, Perez, Alonso and Kvyat. Vettel, who was 20th, did his qually sim several minutes later and went up to third with a time of 1:16.208.

Now, with about 40 minutes remaining in FP2, just about everybody took to the track with the super soft Pirellis to see how they would hold up on long runs.

After being quickest over one lap, Rosberg was also quick over a series of laps.

The top 10 at the end of FP1 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Button, Perez and Alonso.