Vettel pips Leclerc as Ferrari dominate Brazilian GP FP2
Sebastian Vettel outpaced Ferrari Formula 1 teammate Charles Leclerc to lead the way in second practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Vettel’s best lap - a 1m09.217s set on Soft tyres - saw him edge out Leclerc by just 0.021s as conditions improved in Sao Paulo for the afternoon session following a rain-hit FP1.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was just over a tenth off the pace in third spot, ahead of the Mercedes pair headed by Valtteri Bottas, who ended up 0.156s adrift.
Sebastian Vettel outpaced Ferrari Formula 1 teammate Charles Leclerc to lead the way in second practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Vettel’s best lap - a 1m09.217s set on Soft tyres - saw him edge out Leclerc by just 0.021s as conditions improved in Sao Paulo for the afternoon session following a rain-hit FP1.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was just over a tenth off the pace in third spot, ahead of the Mercedes pair headed by Valtteri Bottas, who ended up 0.156s adrift.
Newly-crowned six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was over two-tenths down as he could only manage the fourth-best time, having survived a near-miss with his Mercedes teammate early in the session.
Hamilton almost collided with Bottas during his first flying lap on Soft tyres on the run to Juncao, with the Briton forced to swerve in avoidance of Bottas - who was on a cool-down lap - before ulimtaley aborting his flying effort.
Kevin Magnussen was an encouraging sixth for the struggling Haas squad as he finished less than a second off the pace.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen were less than a tenth behind Magnussen in seventh and eighth, while FP1 pacesetter Alexander Albon ended up ninth tenths down on Red Bull teammate Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz completed the top 10 for McLaren, just over a second slower than Vettel’s benchmark.
Nico Hulkenberg was a tenth shy of making it into the top 10 as he placed his Renault in 11th spot, while Pierre Gasly (12th) suffered a suspected engine failure on his Toro Rosso in closing stages of the session.
The resigned Antonio Giovinazzi was three tenths slower than Alfa Romeo teammate Raikkonen in 13th, ahead of Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat, who ended FP2 in the barriers at Juncao.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and the Haas of Romain Grosjean were next up in 15th and 16th, ahead of Lance Stroll in 18th, while Lando Norris endured a frustrating afternoon and ended up a lowly 18th in the timesheets.
The McLaren driver reported throttle pedal problems early on and was unable to string together a clean qualifying simulation run, before abandoning fast laps to concentrate on his race pace.
George Russell was 19th and the slowest driver to set a lap time, as Williams teammate Robert Kubica caused an red flag with a hefty crash inside the opening 10 minutes of the session.
Kubica lost control of his Williams at Turn 3 and violently speared off into the barriers, destroying much of the front-end of his FW42 car in the process.
The Pole had sat out of FP1 with Formula 2 frontrunner Nicholas Latifi - who is expected to replace the departing Kubica at the British squad for 2020 - handed his latest practice outing.
Kubica subsequently failed to complete a single lap throughout Friday’s running as he ended the day anchored to the bottom of the order.
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