FP2 Tag

Nico Rosberg edged team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just seven hundredths of a second to take top in the second free practice of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Suzuka. Rosberg’s best time of the session was 1:32.250. After Ferrari ended the first practice session more than a second off the pace set by Rosberg, there was encouragement for the Italian squad, as Kimi Raikkonen got to within four tenths of Rosberg’s time at the end of the afternoon’s performance runs. In the morning it had been two-by-two, with Mercedes followedRead More

Max Verstappen went quickest in the second practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, as Red Bull Racing turned a low key morning session into a headline-making afternoon outing with Daniel Ricciardo taking second spot. In the first session Verstappen finished in seventh position, behind Ricciardo. Part of the reason for that was Mercedes’ decision to run the supersoft tyre in FP1, while their rivals chose to stick with tradition and leave their performance runs until the afternoon. With Mercedes leaving the red-banded tyre alone in session two, theRead More

After edging team-mate Nico Rosberg by just three hundredths of a second in opening practice for the British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton made lighter work of the second session, taking top spot by almost four tenths of a second ahead of Daniel Ricciardo after Rosberg failed to take to the track due to car issues. Rosberg pushed his chief championship rival hard in the morning session but his second 90 minutes of track was halted before it had begun, with Mercedes detecting a water leak in his car. The GermanRead More

After topping the Friday morning times, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was again quickest at the Red Bull Ring, though team-mate Lewis Hamilton closed within two hundredths of a second of the championship leader in a rain disrupted FP2 in Spielberg. Rosberg’s best time of 1:07.967, almost sixth tenths slower than his best lap of the morning, was set early in the afternoon, just before heavy rain began to sweep across the circuit in Austria’s Styrian mountains. The downpour first affected the final two corners of the short nine-corner circuit, leading toRead More

After topping the morning session at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Lewis Hamilton doubled up in second free practice in Canada, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to top spot by 0.25s. Hamilton’s best time, on the ultrasoft compound Pirelli tyres, was a 1:14.212, almost two tenths of a second up on his pole position time of 2015. Vettel pressed the defending champion hard though. In the opening session the German was half a second adrift of his Mercedes rivals but on ultrasofts Vettel powered to a lap of 1:14.469 to get toRead More

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo got the best out of a revised Renault engine to power to the top of the timesheet in the second practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, lapping 0.6s quicker than second-placed Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. The session got underway with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg setting the early pace with a time of 1:16.694 on supersoft tyres before Hamilton usurped his team-mate with a lap of 1:15.489, again set on supersofts. Romain Grosjean in trouble, however, the Haas driver losing control on the exit of theRead More

Nico Rosberg recovered from morning brake issues to top the timesheets in second practice ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver finished 0.245 seconds clear of Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat. Kvyat’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished third to split the Mercedes drivers as Lewis Hamilton finished in fourth place, almost half a second behind Rosberg. Grip had been at a premium on the slippery new track surface in the first session and it was a similarly story in the second session. FP1 pacesetter Max Verstappen was the firstRead More

FP2 from the Hungaroring featured track temps at nearly 130 degrees Fahrenheit, slides galore and Red Bull within striking distance of Mercedes at the top of the time sheets. Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time with a 1:23.949 with young Danil Kvyat was a mere 3/10ths behind with a strong 1:24.300. The high downforce nature of the Hungaroring seemingly suited the Red Bull which clearly made a step forward last go around at Silverstone. The team is playing down chances of victory as Renault power unit issues still loom overRead More