Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on top in the second practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix but the silver cars were only fractionally quicker than the Ferraris.
As track temperatures rose by more than 10C to over 40C in the afternoon, Rosberg set a 1’23.922 on soft tyres put himself on top of the times. This was just 0.029s faster than Sebastian Vettel managed on the same rubber this morning, and Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari got within a quarter of a second of Rosberg in the afternoon.
Raikkonen then suffered a brief setback as the team called him into the pits to have a fuel pressure problem investigated. It delayed him only briefly, however, and he was soon back on the track to continue his running.
Lewis Hamilton ended the session seven-tenths of a second down on Rosberg after catching Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber at the end of a slightly scruffy lap.
Behind the usual top four Carlos Sainz Jnr led a tight pack of seven cars separated by half a second. They included Fernando Alonso, in a strong seventh for McLaren, and the two Red Bulls, Daniel Ricciardo a tenth of a second up on Max Verstappen as he had been in the first session.
However the second Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat was over a second off Sainz in 15th place despite both having run the soft tyre.
Romain Grosjean was an unhappy 13th for Haas, repeatedly complaining about his “un-driveable” VF-16 chassis, yet over two seconds ahead of the team’s other car driven by Esteban Gutierrez.
The session was stopped briefly when Jolyon Palmer suffered a puncture at the end of the pit straight. It was the second tyre failure for that car today, Esteban Ocon having had one in first practice as well, but Palmer was able to return to the track and was 17th fastest.
Second practice visual gaps
Nico Rosberg – 1’23.922
+0.254 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’24.176
+0.719 Lewis Hamilton – 1’24.641
+1.095 Sebastian Vettel – 1’25.017
+1.209 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’25.131
+1.272 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’25.194
+1.420 Fernando Alonso – 1’25.342
+1.453 Max Verstappen – 1’25.375
+1.515 Sergio Perez – 1’25.437
+1.531 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’25.453
+1.786 Valtteri Bottas – 1’25.708
+1.977 Romain Grosjean – 1’25.899
+2.322 Kevin Magnussen – 1’26.244
+2.453 Daniil Kvyat – 1’26.375
+2.569 Felipe Massa – 1’26.491
+2.848 Jolyon Palmer – 1’26.770
+3.038 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’26.960
+3.330 Rio Haryanto – 1’27.252
+3.890 Felipe Nasr – 1’27.812
+4.283 Esteban Gutierrez – 1’28.205
+4.579 Marcus Ericsson – 1’28.501
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
2016 Spanish Grand Prix
- Ricciardo still coming to terms with losing Spain win
- Landslide Driver of the Weekend win for Verstappen
- Verstappen win flummoxes Predictions players
- Praise for surprising Spanish GP – and new winner Verstappen
- Top ten pictures from the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix
Ylli Beli (@yllib)
13th May 2016, 14:44
Marchionne is starting to loom like Montezemolo right now
Ylli Beli (@yllib)
13th May 2016, 14:44
Look*
TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
13th May 2016, 14:51
@yllib – “Loom” worked for me. Very descriptive.
Alex De (@alexde)
13th May 2016, 15:20
Loom is perfect here.
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
13th May 2016, 15:43
Loom would be the right word in every sense ! :D
Sumedh
13th May 2016, 14:57
Kvyat seems to be proving Marko right :(
GeeMac (@geemac)
13th May 2016, 15:25
Well Verstappen was slower than Ricciardo in both sessions. So if we cut him slack we should do the same for Kvyat.
erix
13th May 2016, 15:50
Verstappen is only 18, he doesnt need to beat Ricciardo for like ..a year at least.
He only need to become nice guy, dont argue with any of the WDC, dont hate FIA, be nice to Bernie and sponsor, always smile to the fan ..and don’t crash.
GeeMac (@geemac)
13th May 2016, 16:12
And Kvyat is only 22…and he beat Ricciardo last season.
This is my issue with Verstappen. On the one hand we all say “if you are quick enough you are old enough”, but his age is always used as a factor to big up his achievements or to mitigate his failings. It cannot work both ways. If we aren’t careful, this approach by the media at large and F1 fans in general will create a monster.
Johnny H.
13th May 2016, 16:18
Giving Kvyat more than a year the time to show some progress in the RB and give Max just two practice sessions to judge him is quite a “facepalm”
GeeMac (@geemac)
13th May 2016, 16:26
Not quite a facepalm Johnny H….the initial post judged Kvyat v Sainz after 2 FP sessions, so why not judge Verstappen the same way against Ricciardo?
My general point still stands. Kvyat is dammed if he does and dammed if he doesn’t. Verstappen is praised if he does and praised if he doesn’t. His tender age and relative lack of single seater experience are no ones fault but his (and his management’s) own.
David-A (@david-a)
13th May 2016, 16:32
@Johnny H
The original comment was also judging Kyvat off 2 practice sessions though.
erix
13th May 2016, 17:33
Perhaps, but in China when Kvyat was arguing with Vettel without showing respect ..the exit door appears already. This also happen to Perez with Kimi and maybe next out will be Bottas.
The point is as a junior you are not expected to be faster, just become nice guy and keep learning.
Auria (@auria)
13th May 2016, 18:59
It is not Verstappen his fault he’s that talented at the age of 18, blame the big man for it..
When you hop into a new car, still getting to know the car, avoiding to go on the limit, and your just shy of 2 tenths of a second from your well-respected teammate, you have done a hell of a job.
Kvyat is a gifted driver, but not in the same league as Verstappen..
He hops in a car he used to drive and a team he’s familiar with and he’s nowhere compared to Sainz.
These facts are hard to deny.
Probably Kvyat needs more time to adapt to his ‘new car’, ‘new team’ and ‘new teammate’, but in Formule1 you’ll have to perform right away and handle the stress accordingly. He failed big time..
uan (@uan)
13th May 2016, 20:40
@auria
Kyvat didn’t jump into a car he used to drive. The 2016 STR is totally different from the 2014 car, more so with a 2015 Ferrari engine. And compared to the current RB?
One or two practice sessions doesn’t mean anything. We might as well say Lewis isn’t performing considering his times today…
David-A (@david-a)
13th May 2016, 15:53
It’s only practice anyway. Qualifying is the first session that matters.
HK (@me4me)
13th May 2016, 16:15
@geemac, Verstappen is within 2 tenths of Ricciardo, while Kvyat is a whopping 1.2 sec down on Sainz.
Obviously this is free practise and of no value at all. But Kvyat must do better tomorrow and on sunday.
John H (@john-h)
13th May 2016, 16:36
He probably made a mistake in a corner or something. We could say the same about Vettel having to ‘up his game’ but that would be silly. This is practice.
Ron Dennis
13th May 2016, 15:08
When will the long run times be uploaded
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
13th May 2016, 20:03
Here you go:
https://www.racefans.net/2016/05/13/2016-spanish-grand-prix-friday-practice-analysis/
Philip (@philipgb)
13th May 2016, 15:16
Were Mercedes alternating between the two new nose designs for both drivers?
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
13th May 2016, 17:57
To verify it is better.
Ian Bond (@ianbond001)
13th May 2016, 15:46
Why is Williams so far behind!?
GeeMac (@geemac)
13th May 2016, 16:14
They always do their own thing on Fridays. They will be up to speed tomorrow.
Night Fury (@toothless)
13th May 2016, 17:55
I am sure all teams are doing their own thing..
pSynrg (@psynrg)
13th May 2016, 15:47
Grosjean? From best car he’s ever driven to totally undriveable in 2 or 3 races… Not the best development work then.
Erik vK
13th May 2016, 15:58
Also very unprofessional to complain about it so much on team radio. Keep it classy, Romain.
Johnny H.
13th May 2016, 16:24
It seems to me the Haas car is more comfortable on the modern(Tilke) high speed tracks than on the “old” bendy european tracks.
Iosif (@afonic)
13th May 2016, 16:34
I don’t remember him saying that it’s the best car he’s ever driven.
John H (@john-h)
13th May 2016, 16:37
“one of the best”
pSynrg (@psynrg)
13th May 2016, 19:46
Yep, my mistake, “One of…” was the quote…
Lolita
13th May 2016, 16:38
Poor Lewis…
kimitxu
13th May 2016, 16:43
Carlos Sainz with last year’s Ferrari engine only 0.100 slower than Vettel?
Todfod (@todfod)
13th May 2016, 16:52
Sainz and Alonso were definitely on glory runs for the Spanish fans. Doubt they’re anywhere close to tg pace of Ferrari
kimitxu
13th May 2016, 17:05
Yes, probably. But there must be something else in that Toro Rosso. Not surprised if James Key is in Ferrari payroll in the near future.
mmertens
13th May 2016, 17:42
Yes, I know that Max and Carlos are very good, but they are really lucky to have 2 years running very well designed cars, this made them look much better! Who knows, James Key might be the new Newey, what a formidable car, with what, 15% of Red Bull budget? Reminds me of the sensational blue March from Newey, managing to upset the big teams. If the press loves to praise Toro Rosso drivers, they should also to this to James Key