Lewis Hamilton stayed on top in the second practice session for the United States Grand Prix despite only doing a single flying lap in very wet conditions.
The Mercedes driver produced a lap of 1’48.716, 1.2 seconds slower than he managed on a somewhat drier track in first practice. His team mate Valtteri Bottas never left the pits, and nor did Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo or the Haas drivers.Pierre Gasly came closest to Hamilton’s time, lapping one second off the Mercedes driver in his Toro Rosso. Gasly’s 2019 team mate Max Verstappen was third-quickest for Red Bull.
The track was very wet when the session began and no one ventured out of the pits during the first half of the session. Brendon Hartley, who did not run in the first practice session, finally commenced proceedings and ended up sixth-fastest.
The Ferrari drivers did set times but ended up at the bottom of the top 10.
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| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’48.716 | 3 | |
| 2 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’49.728 | 1.012 | 10 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’49.798 | 1.082 | 5 |
| 4 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 1’51.728 | 3.012 | 3 |
| 5 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’52.208 | 3.492 | 6 |
| 6 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’52.505 | 3.789 | 19 |
| 7 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’53.070 | 4.354 | 9 |
| 8 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 1’53.354 | 4.638 | 10 |
| 9 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’53.443 | 4.727 | 7 |
| 10 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’53.912 | 5.196 | 8 |
| 11 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’54.101 | 5.385 | 9 |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1’54.637 | 5.921 | 5 |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’54.963 | 6.247 | 6 |
| 14 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1’55.348 | 6.632 | 6 |
| 15 | 35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams-Mercedes | 1’55.446 | 6.730 | 8 |
| 16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | |||
| 17 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | |||
| 18 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | |||
| 19 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | |||
| 20 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes |
Second practice visual gaps
Lewis Hamilton – 1’48.716
+1.012 Pierre Gasly – 1’49.728
+1.082 Max Verstappen – 1’49.798
+3.012 Fernando Alonso – 1’51.728
+3.492 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’52.208
+3.789 Brendon Hartley – 1’52.505
+4.354 Marcus Ericsson – 1’53.070
+4.638 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’53.354
+4.727 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’53.443
+5.196 Sebastian Vettel – 1’53.912
+5.385 Charles Leclerc – 1’54.101
+5.921 Lance Stroll – 1’54.637
+6.247 Sergio Perez – 1’54.963
+6.632 Esteban Ocon – 1’55.348
+6.730 Sergey Sirotkin – 1’55.446
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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2018 United States Grand Prix
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Understeer (@abdelilah)
19th October 2018, 21:43
I think Lewis is playing mind games with the field, especially Vettel, one lap out, smashing the lap times chart and going back to the garage.
mystic one (@mysticus)
20th October 2018, 20:18
I think he is using interesting tactics!
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
19th October 2018, 21:47
Top 5 for Alonso! Happy for him he’s getting out of F1 on top!
David BR (@david-br)
19th October 2018, 21:52
If only he had a Honda engine next year, he might have been persuaded to stay.
John H (@john-h)
19th October 2018, 21:50
Gasly Vs Verstappen is going to be very interesting next year. He’s the real deal.
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
19th October 2018, 22:35
@john-h: Yes, Max does appear to be. Not sure Seb agrees tho.
Daniel (@db01)
19th October 2018, 22:34
While Lewis is fantastic in the wet, that Merc looks absolutely amazing around here.
Boudi
19th October 2018, 23:51
Their turnaround is just amazing, the car doesn’t even suffer much in wet conditions and it seems like the drivers have the confidence now to push the car to its limits.
Aldoid
19th October 2018, 23:54
The Mercedes does look fantastic, but Hamilton is definitely giving it the business. Totally unconventional lines while hunting for the grip through the turns & under braking coupled with supreme confidence and razor sharp reflexes: he really is visibly better than all the others in the wet. It was painfully obvious today, IMO.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
20th October 2018, 2:53
Yes, hamilton and verstappen are really the best in wet weather this generation, unfortunately this year’s red bull isn’t as good in the wet as last year’s.