Hungary – Free Practice 2: Rosberg leads as Hamilton goes off track
Nico Rosberg dominated a session that saw Hamilton leave the track early and never return. The German was ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel.
The second free practice session of the weekend begins in milder weather than this morning. However, the sky remains cloudy. As a reminder, it was Lewis Hamilton who set the fastest time in the first free practice session this morning with a 1:21.347.
In the first half-hour. Quite a few drivers are on the track from the beginning of the session. The teams start their track study work.
Romain Grosjean is the first to take to the track in this session and sets an initial benchmark of 1:24.524. He is followed by the Ferrari and Williams drivers. Lewis Hamilton then takes the lead with a time of 1:21.960. Moments later, the Brit makes an error at turn 11 and hits the tire wall after spinning. He manages to get going again but returns to the pits for checks. A red flag is waved for a few minutes.
The session resumes with improved lap times from Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, who switch to Super Soft tires like the majority of drivers. Rosberg lowers the times by clocking a 1:20.435. That’s 1 second better than this morning. Ricciardo gets within 0.6 seconds of the German driver’s time.
At mid-session, it is worth noting an improvement in lap times for the Red Bull and Force India drivers. Räikkönen slots in between the drivers of the two teams.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (30 MINS INTO SESSION)
One. Thousandth. ⏱#HungarianGP #FP2 pic.twitter.com/OniDRQHoz6
— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 juillet 2016
The Williams drivers are both under investigation for not respecting the white lines at the pit entry. Vettel finally sets a fast lap and climbs to third place, 9 tenths off the lead. Felipe Massa loses his monkey seat on the edge of the track.
Problem for MAS, as some debris – possibly the monkey seat – flies off the rear of his Williams #HungarianGP #FP2 pic.twitter.com/DgBzQdIrSk
— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 juillet 2016
In the last half-hour, the drivers are working on studying long stints. The two McLarens move ahead of the Force Indias in the session standings. It is noted that the Williams’ tires do not last long and wear out quickly. Nasr (Sauber) briefly triggers a yellow flag by going off the track without hitting anything. Sainz (Toro Rosso) goes off a few moments later, experiencing rear brake issues but without damage. It is at the end of this session that Jolyon Palmer (Renault) completes his first laps after experiencing technical problems.
No further notable improvement until the end of the session. Rosberg remains in first, ahead of Riccardo by 5 tenths and Vettel by 9 tenths of a second.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION: END OF FP2
Encouraging display from the McLarens as ROS tops the charts#HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/ts8NVCA2mx
— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 juillet 2016
