---
title: "Hamilton heads FP2 while Vettel suffers truncated session"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/10/20/hamilton-heads-fp2-vettel-suffers-truncated-session/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Kyran Gibbons"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2017-10-20T20:50:29Z"
modified: "2017-10-20T20:51:35Z"
---

# Hamilton heads FP2 while Vettel suffers truncated session

Formula 1 championship leader Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet in FP2 ahead of the US Grand Prix, leading Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Fellow title protagonist Sebastian Vettel ended the afternoon in third place, but a full five tenths adrift of Hamilton’s time. Issues for Vettel towards the end of the session significantly limited his running on high fuel.

Hamilton’s ultra-soft benchmark of 1m34.668s was nearly four tenths faster than Verstappen’s best on the same compound, as the Englishman followed up his timesheet-topping performance from FP1.

Mercedes will, however, be more concerned regarding long-run performance. Both Red Bull and Ferrari – at least in the hands of Kimi Raikkonen – seem a match for the Silver Arrows in race trim, as Mercedes appeared to be affected more than their rivals by degradation on the ultra-soft tyre.

Valtteri Bottas, who finished the session fourth on the timesheet, was closer to team-mate Hamilton’s pace during the race simulation runs.

A high-speed spin at Turn 19 early in the running served to set the tone for Vettel’s session. His long-run evaluation was heavily compromised by a suspected front-axle gremlin.

Reported by Vettel on the radio, Ferrari’s subsequent investigations truncated the session. He emerged with only three minutes remaining, losing over 30 minutes to the fault.

Vettel enters the weekend 59 points behind Hamilton in the championship battle. If Hamilton wins and Vettel finishes sixth or lower, Hamilton will be crowned champion with three races to spare.

Meanwhile, Raikkonen’s short run performance delivered sixth spot on the timesheet, eight tenths behind Hamilton.

Outside the top three teams, Fernando Alonso was fastest in seventh place. Team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne ended the day a full second behind in 15th.

Felipe Massa in eighth place edged both Force India’s, with Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in ninth and 10th separated by nine thousands.

Five thousands split Carlos Sainz Jr and Nico Hulkenberg in 11th and 12th, as Sainz continues to impress on his opening weekend with Renault. Hulkenberg’s FP2 session was truncated by a power unit issue which meant that his qualifying simulation was delayed and run out of sequence with the field.

The Haas duo of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, who ended the day 14th and 20th respectively, both spun in the opening stages of the session. They later found themselves battling over the same piece of tarmac at Turn 15 much to the dismay of both drivers.

Brendon Hartley, who is making his F1 debut with Toro Rosso this weekend, continued to quietly adjust to his new surroundings. The New Zealander finished 17th on the timesheet.