Formula 1: Brazilian Grand Prix – Practice Session 2; Where Sebastian Vettel Came On Top
Red Bull made a clean sweep of the morning session with Sebastian Vettel outpacing teammate Webber for the top spot. Hamilton and Button were 3rd and 4th respectively. Championship leader Fernando Alonso stopped on track right
at the end and could only manage a thirteenth place while Vitaly Petrov and Kamui Kobayashi crashed into the barriers.
The track was dry, the forecast was sunny and the temperature was a warm 29 degrees. It appeared to be perfect conditions for racing. However, since rain was forecasted overnight, it was rather worrying as the drivers were yet
to experience full wet conditions.
Here we go! - The Second Practice Session flagged off at Interlagos.
Lucas di Grassi returned for Virgin Racing.
There was a sense of urgency amongst the teams as most of the drivers completed their installation laps in the first ten minutes. This time, the McLaren team decided to send Hamilton early - he led the pack.
Mark Webber posted the fastest times for all the sectors to go on top of the timesheets. It was an extremely efficient and well-executed string of corners by Red Bull which showed how balanced the car was. The question now was
whether Sebastian Vettel could match up to his teammate owing to the fact that he had the same machinery at his disposal.
Almost half the session had passed and none of the cars on track seemed to be able to match up to the Australian. The order at the top saw Webber leading from Vettel, Hamilton, Massa, Button and Alonso.
The softer Bridgestones made their mark as Nick Heidfeld jumped up to fifth, clearly enjoying the added grip.
Another setback for Ferrari saw Felipe Massa retiring from the session. He seemed to have some transmission problems. Whether the driver would be penalized for the race on Sunday remains to be seen. However, being the hometown
hero, his disappointment was understandable.
Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets as he literally drove the wheels of his Red Bull; ultimately, finding a way past his teammate Webber to take the fastest time. Alonso was 3rd fastest with the session nearly coming
to a close.
Red Bull continued its domination as Vettel topped the second practice session as well. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso recovered from his disaster in the morning session to finish third in the afternoon followed by Lewis Hamilton and
teammate Felipe Massa who was forced to retire after what looked to be a transmission failure.
Robert Kubica went 6th fastest, Jenson Button 7th, Nick Heidfeld 8th while the two Mercedes’ rounded off the top ten with Rosberg out pacing his teammate yet again.
While the first two practice sessions saw a whitewash from the Red Bulls, it would still be rather naive to believe that the trend would follow this weekend. With rain expected to hamper proceedings before qualifying, it is all
to play for the 24 cars come race day.
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