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British GP: Rosberg fastest from Raikkonen in second practice

Nico Rosberg set the pace in an incident-packed second free practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Friday, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen taking the second-fastest time ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W06

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W06

XPB Images

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W06
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF15-T
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF15-T
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W06
Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Racing RB11
Max Verstappen, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR10
Nico Hulkenberg, Sahara Force India F1 VJM08
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MP4-30

Rosberg lapped Silverstone in 1m34.155s on the medium-compound tyre, ahead of the two Ferraris, as many drivers suffered a lack of rear-end grip and struggled to make the mediums last for an entire lap due to its long, high-speed sweeping turns.

Hamilton appeared to struggle both for one-lap pace and with his handling on his long run, and ended the session down in fourth for his home grand prix.

Story of the session

After his hydraulic problems in FP1, Rosberg complained of a “poor upshift” from the start of the session. He nonetheless set the early pace on the hard tyre of 1m35.513s, but was quickly eclipsed by Hamilton by almost half a second on 1m35.055s.

After a cool-down lap, Rosberg improved to 1m35.229s and Hamilton to 1m34.877s.

Kvyat broke up the Mercedes monopoly at the time of the times, setting a second-fastest 1m35.009s, just 0.132s off Hamilton’s fastest time.

Rosberg was the first frontrunner to use the medium-compound tyre, slamming in a 1m34.155s, 0.367s up on Vettel – the latter admitting that he almost “lost the car” at Copse corner.

Hamilton only managed a 1m34.621s at his first attempt, and complained “the car’s not in a good slot.” He made plenty of practice starts during this session, following his poor getaway in Austria. 

Raikkonen set his second-fastest time with half an hour remaining, and appeared able to manage his tyres to ensure they lasted for an entire lap. His time was 0.347s away from Rosberg’s benchmark.

Rosberg also ran into some overheating issues on his long run towards the end of the session.

Hamilton, meanwhile, reported his car was “all over the place” on his long run. His laptimes were not as fast at Rosberg's.

Kvyat's early medium-tyred time was good for fifth, ahead of Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Max Verstappen was seventh fastest for Toro Rosso, and showed some great long-run pace, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in the revamped Force India.

Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) and Felipe Massa rounded out the top 10.

Cars in the gravel

The session was red-flagged just before the 20-minute mark when Grosjean beached his Lotus at Luffield, and was unable to extricate himself. "Something went wrong at the rear," he complained.

After helping his crew clean up his car, Grosjean rejoined to set the 14th-quickest time.

A second red flag was called just as the man who caused it, Roberto Merhi, managed to find reverse on his Manor and drive away from a spin, again at Luffield.

It was another troubled session for McLaren, with Fernando Alonso also going off at Luffield but was able to drive out of the deep gravel, rally-style.

Alonso had another big moment later at Stowe, and he was 14th fastest.

Button complained of a lack of rear-end instability, and ended the session in 17th.

British GP - Free Practice 2
 DriverTeamTimeGapLaps
01   N. Rosberg   Mercedes 1:34.155   33
02   K. Raikkonen   Ferrari 1:34.502 +0.347 28
03   S. Vettel   Ferrari 1:34.522 +0.367 26
04   L. Hamilton   Mercedes 1:34.621 +0.466 22
05   D. Kvyat   Red Bull 1:35.009 +0.854 24
06   D. Ricciardo   Red Bull 1:35.153 +0.998 21
07   M. Verstappen   Toro Rosso 1:35.300 +1.145 35
08   N. Hulkenberg   Force India 1:35.387 +1.232 33
09   C. Sainz   Toro Rosso 1:35.866 +1.711 37
10   F. Massa   Williams 1:36.147 +1.992 32
11   P. Maldonado   Lotus 1:36.164 +2.009 32
12   V. Bottas   Williams 1:36.183 +2.028 32
13   S. Perez   Force India 1:36.351 +2.196 28
14   R. Grosjean   Lotus 1:36.728 +2.573 21
15   F. Alonso   McLaren 1:36.731 +2.576 18
16   F. Nasr   Sauber 1:36.822 +2.667 23
17   J. Button   McLaren 1:37.196 +3.041 16
18   M. Ericsson   Sauber 1:37.327 +3.172 36
19   W. Stevens   Manor 1:38.279 +4.124 21
20   R. Merhi   Manor 1:39.878 +5.723 20

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