Rosberg leads Ricciardo as debris disrupts practice

2016 United States Grand Prix second practice

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Nico Rosberg took over from Lewis Hamilton on the top of the times sheets in Austin – and the Mercedes pair were separated by a Red Bull.

Rosberg set the pace in the second 90-minute session at the Circuit of the Americas. However on a track which was around 10C hotter than it had been in the morning session, Rosberg’s best effort was only seven-hundredths of a second faster than the previous benchmark.

United States Grand Prix Friday practice in pictures
Hamilton wasn’t able to match his lap time from the first practice session. His best effort on the super-softs was almost three-tenths slower than Rosberg, leaving him third.

The silver cars were separated by a flying Daniel Ricciardo, who went quickest of all through the twisty first sector as he got within two-tenths of a second of Rosberg.

The quickest Ferrari belonged to Sebastian Vettel and was over eight-tenths adrift. Kimi Raikkonen complained of oversteer on his first run, and with the tyres good for one lap only he fell to the foot of the top ten.

Ahead of him were both Force Indias and the McLaren pair, the latter enjoying a much more competitive showing than at Suzuka. Carlos Sainz Jnr, who ended his session with a high-speed spin at turn 18, was 11th. Jolyon Palmer also spun on his way to 17th.

The session was briefly red-flagged due to debris, a problem which occured in the first session as well and again seemed to chiefly involve the Haas cars. The brief hiatus forced Rosberg and Ricciardo to curtail their race simulation runs.

Pos. No. Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’37.358 33
2 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’37.552 0.194 33
3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’37.649 0.291 32
4 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’38.178 0.820 35
5 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’38.258 0.900 27
6 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’38.508 1.150 32
7 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’38.568 1.210 31
8 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1’38.713 1.355 29
9 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1’38.801 1.443 30
10 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’38.865 1.507 31
11 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’38.971 1.613 31
12 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1’39.159 1.801 23
13 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1’39.189 1.831 28
14 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1’39.197 1.839 34
15 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’39.202 1.844 36
16 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’39.281 1.923 30
17 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1’39.455 2.097 34
18 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1’39.554 2.196 24
19 31 Esteban Ocon Manor-Mercedes 1’40.086 2.728 27
20 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari 1’40.114 2.756 26
21 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’40.219 2.861 28
22 94 Pascal Wehrlein Manor-Mercedes 1’41.131 3.773 31

Second practice visual gaps

Nico Rosberg – 1’37.358

+0.194 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’37.552

+0.291 Lewis Hamilton – 1’37.649

+0.820 Sebastian Vettel – 1’38.178

+0.900 Max Verstappen – 1’38.258

+1.150 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’38.508

+1.210 Sergio Perez – 1’38.568

+1.355 Jenson Button – 1’38.713

+1.443 Fernando Alonso – 1’38.801

+1.507 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’38.865

+1.613 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’38.971

+1.801 Kevin Magnussen – 1’39.159

+1.831 Felipe Nasr – 1’39.189

+1.839 Valtteri Bottas – 1’39.197

+1.844 Daniil Kvyat – 1’39.202

+1.923 Felipe Massa – 1’39.281

+2.097 Jolyon Palmer – 1’39.455

+2.196 Romain Grosjean – 1’39.554

+2.728 Esteban Ocon – 1’40.086

+2.756 Esteban Gutierrez – 1’40.114

+2.861 Marcus Ericsson – 1’40.219

+3.773 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’41.131

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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2 comments on “Rosberg leads Ricciardo as debris disrupts practice”

  1. Haas now feeling the pain the Honda went through last race weekend…

    Not looking good for them.

    On the flip side, McLaren and Force India doing well!

  2. MAG vs. PAL 3/10 dif.. who’s on top of who..? Looking forward to see the qualify…

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