United States GP 2018
OCTOBER 19, 2018
Practice 2 Report - The Spoiler
© RV Press
By Dan Knutson
Rain spoiled much of Free Practice 2 for the United States Grand Prix. The drivers have a limited number of sets of wet weather tires for the weekend. Having used those tires in FP1, and with a good chance of rain in qualifying on Saturday, the drivers had to save tires for that crucial session. Furthermore, having collected wet track running data in FP1, the teams did not want to risk the drivers smashing up their cars in FP2. The track only really got busy in the final 15 minutes when it was dry enough for intermediate tires. And Lewis Hamilton was the fastest of all.
The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen; Red Bull TAG Heuer - Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen; Racing Point Force India Mercedes - Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon; Williams Mercedes -Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin; Renault - Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz; Toro Rosso Honda - Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly; Haas Ferrari - Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; McLaren Renault - Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne; Sauber Ferrari - Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton was fastest in the wet FP1 session with a time of 1:47.502.
The rain had all but stopped at the end of FP1, but about 15 minutes before the start of FP2 the heavens opened up and it poured.
The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Centigrade).
By the time the green lights came on to start FP2 the rained had eased off again. But the track had puddles and rivers on it.
And so the drivers remained in their dry garages, sitting in their cars, or chatting with their engineers as the team waited for the track conditions to improve. And the spectators waited in the rain and mud.
“I feel really sorry for the fans,” said Perez.
While there was nothing happening on the track, there was off-track news. Gasly would be moved to the back of the grid because he had a new Honda engine fitted. And Vettel had the possibility of a three-place grid penalty, depending on the stewards decision, because he had failed to slow sufficiently when the red flags csme out so that the track could be cleaned during FP1 after Leclerc spun into the gravel trap and dragged gravel back onto the track.
Forty minutes into the session Hartley donned his helmet and climbed into his Toro Rosso. He and Vandoorne had missed out on any FP1 running as reserve drivers Sean Geleal and Lando Norris were in their respective cars.
And just past the midpoint of FP2 Brendon took to the track as did Vandoorne.
Hartley posted a lap time of 1:58.773 followed by a 1:57.109 on the extreme wet tires. Raikkonen was on the same rubber as he took to the track and turned a 1:53.443. Vandoorne had returned to the pits without doing a time.
Raikkonen also pitted, and now Stroll and Sirotkin headed out. And then Leclerc and Ericsson. Plus Gasly.
At least the soaked fans had a little bit of on-track entertainment in the final 30 minutes.
Gasly stood on the gas and went to the top of the times with a 1:53.295 and then a 1:52.751 on the extreme wet tires.
With 20 minutes to go, Sirotkin tried used (in FP1) intermediate tires on the drying track. Vettel also sampled the inters.
This started a trend followed by Verstappen, Hamilton, Raikkonen and others including Hulkenberg who hit as 1:52.508 and Gasly who beat that with his 1:50.199. Gasly was on new inters while the other drivers were on used sets.
Now Hamilton came around with lap in 1:48.716. So he finished the session ahead of Gasly, Verstappen, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Hartley, Ericsson, Vandoorne, Raikkonen and Vettel.