Hamilton edges Bottas in second practice

2017 Brazilian Grand Prix second practice

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Lewis Hamilton kept himself on top of the times sheets by a slender margin in the second practice session, outpacing team mate Valtteri Bottas by less than five-hundredths of a second.

Brazilian Grand Prix practice in pictures
Mercedes’ rivals got closer to them in the afternoon session, where track temperatures initially rose above 53C. Daniel Ricciardo got closest, lapping just two tenths of a second slower in his Red Bull, with Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari close behind.

Esteban Ocon was next behind the usual ‘big six’ with Felipe Massa in close attendance in his Williams. Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso joined them in the top ten, the latter despite having to contend with power deployment problems.

Alonso was just four-hundredths faster than Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Renault and Sergio Perez’s Force India. Stoffel Vandoorne put his McLaren 13th following a spin at turn two.

Lance Stroll was a frustrated 14th, almost seven-tenths of a second slower than his team mate, after complaining about traffic on several occasions during the session.

The Toro Rosso drivers had a more productive time than in their abbreviated morning outing. Pierre Gasly was the quicker of the two in 16th place.

Pos. No. Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’09.515 42
2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1’09.563 0.048 45
3 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’09.743 0.228 37
4 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’09.875 0.360 48
5 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’09.886 0.371 38
6 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’10.117 0.602 45
7 31 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1’10.306 0.791 49
8 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’10.373 0.858 42
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’10.396 0.881 39
10 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1’10.655 1.140 31
11 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Renault 1’10.685 1.170 42
12 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’10.695 1.180 43
13 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Honda 1’10.902 1.387 38
14 18 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1’11.064 1.549 44
15 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1’11.300 1.785 39
16 10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso-Renault 1’11.422 1.907 44
17 28 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso-Renault 1’11.821 2.306 54
18 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber-Ferrari 1’11.857 2.342 43
19 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’11.989 2.474 17
20 50 Antonio Giovinazzi Haas-Ferrari 1’12.417 2.902 37

Second practice visual gaps

Lewis Hamilton – 1’09.515

+0.048 Valtteri Bottas – 1’09.563

+0.228 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’09.743

+0.360 Sebastian Vettel – 1’09.875

+0.371 Max Verstappen – 1’09.886

+0.602 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’10.117

+0.791 Esteban Ocon – 1’10.306

+0.858 Felipe Massa – 1’10.373

+0.881 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’10.396

+1.140 Fernando Alonso – 1’10.655

+1.170 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’10.685

+1.180 Sergio Perez – 1’10.695

+1.387 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’10.902

+1.549 Lance Stroll – 1’11.064

+1.785 Romain Grosjean – 1’11.300

+1.907 Pierre Gasly – 1’11.422

+2.306 Brendon Hartley – 1’11.821

+2.342 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’11.857

+2.474 Marcus Ericsson – 1’11.989

+2.902 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’12.417

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

Drivers’ best times by tyre

Driver Team Best super-soft time Super-soft gap Best soft time Soft gap Best medium time Medium gap
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’09.515 1’09.742 None
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1’09.563 0.048 1’09.860 0.118 None
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1’09.743 0.228 1’10.657 0.915 None
Max Verstappen Red Bull 1’09.886 0.371 1’10.175 0.433 None
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’09.875 0.36 1’10.522 0.78 None
Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’10.117 0.602 1’10.450 0.708 None
Sergio Perez Force India 1’10.695 1.18 1’11.282 1.54 None
Esteban Ocon Force India 1’10.306 0.791 1’10.904 1.162 None
Felipe Massa Williams 1’10.373 0.858 1’10.893 1.151 None
Lance Stroll Williams 1’11.064 1.549 1’11.852 2.11 None
Fernando Alonso McLaren 1’10.655 1.14 1’11.101 1.359 None
Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1’10.902 1.387 1’10.925 1.183 None
Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1’11.821 2.306 1’12.460 2.718 None
Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1’11.422 1.907 1’11.838 2.096 2’27.911
Romain Grosjean Haas 1’11.300 1.785 1’12.116 2.374 None
Antonio Giovinazzi Haas None 1’12.417 2.675 None
Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’10.396 0.881 1’10.972 1.23 None
Carlos Sainz Jnr Renault 1’10.685 1.17 1’10.965 1.223 None
Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1’21.128 11.613 1’11.989 2.247 None
Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1’11.857 2.342 1’12.371 2.629 None

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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15 comments on “Hamilton edges Bottas in second practice”

  1. Leaving Ferraris, Mercs and RedBulls, Ocon seems to be consistently the best of the rest !

    1. He’s quick, but George Russel got pretty close in FP1.
      A lot of tall drivers making there way in to F1. I hope they’re not all as cheesy as Ocon.

      1. 6 tenth is not pretty close in F1 standards @reganama.

        1. It is if it’s his time in the car

  2. How is it that the fastest FP1 time didn’t get beaten? That isn’t common.

    1. Temperatures can be a big difference, optimal temperature = record breaking conditions !

      1. @jerejj @redbullf1 It was the same at this race last year.

        1. @keithcollantine OK, thanks for that info. I didn’t remember that from last season’s edition, but since it was the case also twelve months ago, then I guess this is the norm for this circuit for some reason although in general on each circuit the fastest FP2 time is faster than the FP1 equivalent.

  3. Why is giovanazzi in the car?

    1. Because for whatever reason, Haas decided against putting GIO in the car for FP1 so they put him in the car for FP2 instead

  4. I love the “visual gaps” graphic. It’s a lot of information quickly.

    How about doing two versions: the one you’ve got; and a second one where you group team mates together so we can see the relative performance.

    It would look something like:

    Lewis Hamilton
     Valtteri Bottas
        Daniel Ricciardo
            Max Verstappen
          Sebastian Vettel
                Kimi Raikkonen
                     Esteban Ocon
                            &nbso; Sergio Perez
                         Felipe Massa
                          Lance Stroll
    etc…

    1. …and provide an edit function >:o(
      (That was supposed to be nbsp, not nbso.)

  5. digitalrurouni
    10th November 2017, 21:01

    I read track temps were 53 degrees. That’s really high and should technically be affecting the Mercs adversely no? How come that is not happening here I wonder.

    1. short lap, tyre selection, sweeping corners etc

  6. Again we see a Renault less than 1 second from the fastest time. They seemed to made a good job in the latest updates and looking also at how fast Red Bull has been, the engine is looking good (still worse than Merc and Ferrari but closer it seems, at least on peak performance).
    Now, let’s see if the cars make it to the end of the race … and also if they don’t take 2 steps back for the 2018 power unit (and also the chassis for the works team).

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