FP2: Hamilton tops despite engine woes

The battle of the Mercedes drivers continued in Free Practice Two at Silverstone as Lewis Hamilton got the better of Nico Rosberg.

With the grandstands packed as usual and the weather playing along, Hamilton gave the British fans plenty to cheer about as he turned the tables on his German team-mate following FP1.

Rosberg, who along with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo escaped punishment after they were investigated for overtaking under red flags earlier in the day, topped FP1 with a 1:35.424, but Hamilton went much quicker than that.

On a fresh set of mediums, the 2008 World Champion put in a 1:34.508 and remained there for the rest of the session. His afternoon, though, did come to an early end after he stopped Loop.

He had a sudden loss of power, explaining to his race engineer “engine killed, no shifting” before making his way to the pits.

Rosberg kept Hamilton honest, but the Championship pacesetter was 0.228 slower than his team-mate while Fernando Alonso again showed that Ferrari mean business at Silverstone.

The Spaniard made it two P3s in a row with a 1:35.244 while Ricciardo was fourth and the second Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel fifth.

Race-pace wise Rosberg seemed to have the edge with Vettel slightly behind and Alonso a tad slower than the Red Bull over a long run. Meanwhile, Raikkonen was all over the pace

It was a much better session for Williams following their nightmare earlier in the day when both Susie Wolff and Felipe Massa lasted only a handful of laps. Wolff stopped after her car lost oil pressure, but despite her Mercedes engine problems she promised to give husband Toto Wolff, the Mercedes motorsport boss, a “big kiss” this evening.

Back on the track Bottas, who made way for Wolff in FP1, was one of the first drivers to emerge for the second run after the mechanics managed to fix his car.

He completed 33 laps and ended up in P6 with a 1:36.001, but his engine cover came off on the final few laps while Massa left his garage 30 minutes into the session and was down in 11th with 29 laps.

The McLarens were also solid with Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen P7 and P8 respectively while the second Ferrari of Raikkonen was another place back with Jean-Eric Vergne completing the top 10. The STR driver also had a premature end to his session after his front-left wheel came loss at Turn 1 and forced him off.

Lotus didn’t have the best of mornings with Pastor Maldonado not setting a time in FP1, but the Venezuelan managed 35 laps while Romain Grosjean also managed 30+.

It was another stuttering session for Caterham, who had issues with both their cars earlier on, as Marcus Ericsson broke down with an engine problem in the old pit lane with just over 20 minutes still left in the session.

Times
01 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m34.508s 14 laps
02 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m34.736s +0.228s 35 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m35.244s +0.736s 32 laps
04 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m35.511s +1.003s 11 laps
05 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m35.627s +1.119s 27 laps
06 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m36.016s +1.508s 33 laps
07 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.228s +1.720s 34 laps
08 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.299s +1.791s 35 laps
09 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m36.554s +2.046s 29 laps
10 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m36.583s +2.075s 26 laps
11 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m36.671s +2.163s 29 laps
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m36.778s +2.270s 31 laps
13 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.951s +2.443s 35 laps
14 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m37.064s +2.556s 35 laps
15 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m37.097s +2.589s 33 laps
16 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m37.236s +2.728s 37 laps
17 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m37.449s +2.941s 27 laps
18 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m37.520s +3.012s 25 laps
19 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m38.658s +4.150s 11 laps
20 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m39.068s +4.560s 31 laps
21 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m39.224s +4.716s 28 laps
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m39.762s +5.254s 21 laps

Related link
This Way To The Friday Gallery