Mexican GP 2015

OCTOBER 30, 2015

Practice 2 Report - Rosberg Romps

Nico Rosberg, Mexican GP 2015
© Active Pictures

 

Nico Rosberg romped home first in Free Practice 2 as he set the quickest lap time in his Mercedes. Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo were second and third ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault - Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault - Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes - Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari - Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi. Sauber - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

Ericsson and Stevens were the first out on the track.

4 minutes into the session, out came the red flags as Verstappen, fastest in FP1, hit the wall at the exit of the final turn. The top six were: Raikkonen, Alonso, Ericsson, Sainz, Nasr and Maldonado.

The track was, Vettel said, very slippery.

12 minutes into the session, FP2 was restarted.

16 minutes into the session, Alonso clocked a 1:25.564 only to be beaten by a number of drivers with Rosberg in front with a 1:25.189.

18 minutes into the session, Bottas spun and skimmed the wall at Turn 1 and headed back to the pits. Vettel was now quickest at 1:24.639.

20 minutes into the session, Hamilton beat that with a 1:24.016. He then spun at Turn 4.

30 minutes into the session, the top six were: Hamilton, Kvyat, Vettel, Rosberg, Ricciardo and Perez. Bottas, Maldonado, Grosjean and Alonso rounded out the top 10.

33 minutes into the session, Perez had a run on the softs and set a 1:24.429, which put him fourth. Then Hulkenberg went first with a 1:23.290 using the mediums.

37 minutes into the session, Sainz, on the softs, went second with a 1:23.364.

Some light rain was falling on some corners now.

40 minutes into the session, and it was now Hamilton and Rosberg one/two with respective times of 1:21.961 and 1:22.272 set on the soft tires. Next Rosberg clocked a 1:21.531.

Midway through FP2, the top six were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, the back-on-track Bottas and Hulkenberg.

With 35 minutes remaining in the session, Kvyat grabbed second with a 1:21.776 and Ricciardo third with a 1:21.868.

With 30 minutes remaining in the session, the top 10 were: Rosberg, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Alonso, Massa and Hulkenberg.

With 27 minutes remaining in the session, Grosjean stopped at Turn 10 and brought out the red flags.

With 21 minutes remaining in the session, rain was predicted to arrive in 10 minutes. The drivers were now doing long runs, but Button got into ninth place.

With 9 minutes remaining in the session, the track was officially declared "wet." Soon the drivers switched to the intermediate rain tires.

The top 10 at the end of FP2 were: Rosberg, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Alonso, Button and Massa.