The combination of a new track surface, very high temperatures and a spate of red flags left teams with only a limited understanding of how their cars will perform in Sunday’s race.
But with the next two days expected to be much cooler – and likely wet as well – that may not prove much of a hindrance.
The Interlagos circuit has been completely relaid since last year, and while fresh surfaces tend to lack initial grip the smoothness of the new track appears to have made it quicker. All of last year’s practice and qualifying sessions were wet, so a like-for-like comparison can’t be made, but Nico Rosberg lapped faster than the 2012 pole position time.
Rosberg topped both sessions, so he more than anyone has reason to hope the conditions don’t change too much, as he seeks to reduce Lewis Hamilton’s championship lead. There is little to choose between on them on their best sector times, however.
Not everyone feels the resurfacing is a change for the better, however. “The new asphalt changed the character of the circuit quite a lot, which is a shame,” said Jenson Button.
The McLaren driver was one of several runners to lose a significant amount of running, which in his case was due to an ERS failure during first practice. He had other problems to occupy his mind, however.
“What’s also strange is that our maximum speed is quite a way off that of the front-runners,” he said. “Our downforce levels don’t look too dissimilar, but we wouldn’t have been able to match the best top speeds without taking the wing off.”
“There’s a lot of work to do overnight,” he said, “but I think we understand where the issues lie.”
Sergio Perez failed to do any running at all after Daniel Juncadella crashed his car during first practice. “On that lap I went a bit wider on the kerb which was a bit too optimistic because I had a moment and had to catch the car,” explained a chastened Juncadella.
“There was no room in the run-off area so I damaged the front of the car. I’ve apologised to the team and I’m sorry that it caused Sergio to miss track time, but hopefully he can still have a strong weekend.”
But the likes of Perez and Jean-Eric Vergne – who only did half-a-dozen laps – will have lost little if the forecast rain arrives.
Past form suggests Red Bull stand to gain most if it does – and Sebastian Vettel is optimistic that will be the case. “If it’s wet then I think it brings things closer to us,” he said, “but even in the dry if we get everything right we should be in a reasonable place, it’s a short lap so it will be quite tight.”
Longest stint comparison – second practice
This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
Sebastian Vettel | 76.748 | 76.279 | 75.993 | 77.046 | |||||||||
Daniel Ricciardo | 76.229 | 79.319 | 75.484 | 81.636 | 75.265 | 88.736 | |||||||
Lewis Hamilton | 76.752 | 76.804 | 76.215 | 75.814 | 75.954 | 84.632 | |||||||
Nico Rosberg | 76.076 | 75.685 | 75.686 | 75.842 | 75.735 | 77.273 | 109.266 | ||||||
Fernando Alonso | 75.522 | 84.655 | 80.28 | 74.436 | 81.685 | 79.467 | 82.021 | 73.988 | |||||
Kimi Raikkonen | 74.005 | 80.61 | 78.056 | 73.969 | |||||||||
Romain Grosjean | 77.473 | 77.697 | 77.399 | 79.718 | 78.825 | 79.626 | |||||||
Pastor Maldonado | 77.244 | 77.178 | 77.116 | 77.566 | 78.043 | 78.11 | 101.981 | ||||||
Jenson Button | 77.185 | 77.344 | 77.492 | 77.391 | 78.818 | 78.881 | 104.335 | ||||||
Kevin Magnussen | 78.386 | 77.489 | 78.436 | 78.031 | 77.916 | 89.609 | |||||||
Nico Hulkenberg | 80.325 | 76.384 | 75.81 | 87.277 | 75.428 | ||||||||
Sergio Perez | |||||||||||||
Adrian Sutil | 78.177 | 78.372 | 77.678 | 77.594 | 77.563 | 78.069 | 112.355 | ||||||
Esteban Gutierrez | 74.696 | 93.012 | 74.382 | 88.652 | 94.831 | 73.902 | |||||||
Jean-Eric Vergne | 79.984 | 77.171 | 85.732 | ||||||||||
Daniil Kvyat | 77.956 | 77.875 | 78.438 | 79.481 | 81.532 | 83.072 | 111.838 | ||||||
Felipe Massa | 76.513 | 77.12 | 77.807 | 79.147 | |||||||||
Valtteri Bottas | 76.895 | 76.83 | 76.408 | 78.624 | 76.786 | 77.012 | 90.05 |
Sector times and ultimate lap times – second practice
Pos | No. | Driver | Car | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate | Gap | Deficit to best |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 18.258 (1) | 37.225 (2) | 16.640 (1) | 1’12.123 | 0.000 | |
2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 18.273 (2) | 37.135 (1) | 16.739 (3) | 1’12.147 | 0.024 | 0.189 |
3 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 18.398 (5) | 37.480 (3) | 16.813 (4) | 1’12.691 | 0.568 | 0.005 |
4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 18.469 (6) | 37.491 (4) | 16.919 (9) | 1’12.879 | 0.756 | 0.077 |
5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 18.519 (8) | 37.620 (5) | 16.815 (6) | 1’12.954 | 0.831 | 0.081 |
6 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 18.313 (3) | 37.938 (9) | 16.706 (2) | 1’12.957 | 0.834 | 0.142 |
7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 18.597 (11) | 37.661 (7) | 16.814 (5) | 1’13.072 | 0.949 | 0.050 |
8 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 18.388 (4) | 37.842 (8) | 16.959 (11) | 1’13.189 | 1.066 | 0.065 |
9 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 18.477 (7) | 38.019 (11) | 16.837 (7) | 1’13.333 | 1.210 | 0.000 |
10 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 18.764 (15) | 37.652 (6) | 16.995 (13) | 1’13.411 | 1.288 | 0.068 |
11 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 18.571 (10) | 37.977 (10) | 16.868 (8) | 1’13.416 | 1.293 | 0.081 |
12 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 18.520 (9) | 38.180 (14) | 16.927 (10) | 1’13.627 | 1.504 | 0.087 |
13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 18.613 (12) | 38.176 (13) | 17.013 (14) | 1’13.802 | 1.679 | 0.080 |
14 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 18.723 (14) | 38.215 (15) | 16.964 (12) | 1’13.902 | 1.779 | 0.000 |
15 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 18.870 (16) | 38.028 (12) | 17.274 (16) | 1’14.172 | 2.049 | 0.037 |
16 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 18.624 (13) | 38.533 (16) | 17.029 (15) | 1’14.186 | 2.063 | 0.018 |
17 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 19.107 (17) | 40.586 (17) | 17.478 (17) | 1’17.171 | 5.048 | 0.000 |
Speed trap – second practice
# | Driver | Car | Engine | Max speed (kph) | Gap | |
1 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | Renault | 334.3 | |
2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 333.1 | 1.2 |
3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | Mercedes | 331.2 | 3.1 |
4 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 331.1 | 3.2 |
5 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | Mercedes | 330.4 | 3.9 |
6 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | Renault | 327.8 | 6.5 |
7 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | Mercedes | 326.6 | 7.7 |
8 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | Renault | 326.3 | 8 |
9 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | Renault | 325.9 | 8.4 |
10 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | Ferrari | 325.4 | 8.9 |
11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | Ferrari | 324.5 | 9.8 |
12 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Mercedes | 324.4 | 9.9 |
13 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | Ferrari | 319.8 | 14.5 |
14 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | Renault | 318.8 | 15.5 |
15 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 316.8 | 17.5 |
16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | Mercedes | 315.9 | 18.4 |
17 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | Renault | 314.8 | 19.5 |
Complete practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | Total laps | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’12.764 | 1’12.123 | 66 | ||
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’12.985 | 1’12.336 | 68 | ||
3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’14.114 | 1’12.696 | 64 | ||
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’14.197 | 1’12.956 | 51 | ||
5 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’13.035 | 31 | |||
6 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’13.811 | 1’13.099 | 55 | ||
7 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’13.742 | 1’13.122 | 50 | ||
8 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’13.723 | 1’13.254 | 74 | ||
9 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’14.902 | 1’13.333 | 52 | ||
10 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’14.136 | 1’13.479 | 63 | ||
11 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1’14.034 | 1’13.497 | 64 | ||
12 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’15.109 | 1’13.714 | 60 | ||
13 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’13.827 | 26 | |||
14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’14.678 | 1’13.882 | 65 | ||
15 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 3’00.000 | 1’13.902 | 31 | ||
16 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’14.434 | 1’14.204 | 67 | ||
17 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 2’00.000 | 1’14.209 | 32 | ||
18 | Felipe Nasr | Williams-Mercedes | 1’14.522 | 22 | |||
19 | Daniel Juncadella | Force India-Mercedes | 1’16.030 | 17 | |||
20 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’17.171 | 5 | |||
21 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 2’00.000 | 0 |
2014 Brazilian Grand Prix
- Rosberg earns first Driver of the Weekend win of 2014
- 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
- Solid Brazilian Grand Prix opens up title fight
- 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Sponsor Watch: 2014 US and Brazilian Grands Prix
Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei
Atticus (@atticus-2)
7th November 2014, 22:41
I wonder why the bottom 5 scores that low on the top speed chart. Seems even stranger than the McLaren worries.
Connor McDonagh (@conmcdonaghf1)
7th November 2014, 22:53
We saw Massa’s mistake in S2, hence the three tenths deficit to Bottas. Expect both Williams to be quick in the dry. We saw in Suzuka they are way behind Mercedes and Red Bull in wet conditions.
Alexander (@)
8th November 2014, 9:01
Kimi would have been 3rd in the first practise as well with his best sector times, hopefully his speed is real
bosyber (@bosyber)
8th November 2014, 9:21
Looking at his lack of top speed, it seems he may have a lot of down-force on the car, so good if it rains, but otherwise will have trouble keeping people behind. Interesting prospect in the race.