United States Grand Prix: Rosberg fastest in FP2
Mercedes driver and current championship leader Nico Rosberg set the pace for the second practice session Friday at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo finished just off the pace, splitting the two Silver Arrows in the session.
In a direct reversal of the morning's practice session, Rosberg lapped nearly three-tenths quicker than defending champion and teammate Lewis Hamilton while on the super-soft compound. However, seemingly jumping in from out of nowhere, Ricciardo split the Mercedes duo by posting a 1:37.552s lap, just two-tenths adrift of Rosberg.
Sebastian Vettel, who has halted contract extension talks with Scuderia Ferrari, finished the session fourth-fastest. He was over a half-second slower than that of Hamilton.
Teenager Max Verstappen drove the second Red Bull to a fifth-place finish in the session, while the Force India pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, and the McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso all posted quicker times than Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari to round out the top 10.
Raikkonen could be heard on the team's radio complaining of handling issues with his SF16-H. He exited the track during the qualifying simulation, his second effort on track was completed on the same set of soft compound tires.
Carlos Sainz Jr. ended up 11th quickest in his Toro Rosso machine. Kevin Magnussen, who is seemingly driving for a spot to remain with the Renault team in 2017, finished 12th, Felipe Nasr placed his Sauber just behind in 13th. However, that was good enough to clear both Magnussed and Nasr of the pair of Williams — Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were split by Daniil Kvyat's Toro Rosso.
Making its inaugural debut at its home race, Friday proved testy for the Haas team. Romain Grosjean finished 18th, teammate Esteban Gutierrez finished 20th, behind youngster Esteban Ocon's underpowered Manor. Grosjean complained that he could "barely drive the car," struggling particularly with the front end of his Haas.
