Nico Rosberg set the fastest time during the second free practice session for the US Grand Prix, with Daniel Ricciardo in between him and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
With Hamilton topping the first practice session at the Circuit of the Americas this morning, the World Drivers’ Championship leader will be happy to return to the top of the timesheets as he gets closer to his first title.
The two Ferrari cars topped the session briefly, but they lost the positions after other teams started to find their feet. The Mercedes kept up their position at the top of the timesheets, but again Red Bull weren’t as far behind as they were earlier in the season.
A few moments disrupted the session. While Jolyon Palmer span his Renault late into the session he didn’t bring out the flags, unlike Esteban Ocon’s trip to the gravel during the first half of the session. The Manor driver did well to make sure his car didn’t get beached.
It was two fairly small pieces of debris that brought out the red flags with 35 minutes ago, which disrupted the plans of every team down the paddock. Replays showed small parts from one of the Haas cars falling off during the lap. The parts were retrieved quickly, but all the cars were back in the pits before the session restarted.
The two Mercedes drivers finished first and third, with Red Bulls’ Ricciardo in second place. The top five was rounded off with Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel and Ricciardo’s teammate Max Verstappen.
Force India looked good again, with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finishing sixth and seventh respectively. At times during the session Hulkenberg, who will be leaving Force India at the end of the session, was as fast as the Red Bull drivers.
The two McLaren drivers were eighth and ninth, with Jenson Button potentially taking part in his final US Grand Prix this weekend. Kimi Raikkonen finished in 10th, the Ferrari team not looking as competitive this weekend as they would hope to be.
Carlos Sainz span his car during the final moments of the session where he finished 11th, ruining a pair of medium tyres. Williams will be disappointed to see Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa 14th and 16th respectively, with a Sauber and a Renault car in front of them.
Haas look set to have a difficult home race, with debris falling off the car and finishing the session near the back of the grid with the likes of Manor and Sauber.
