Brazil GP – Free Practice 2: Red Bulls Behind Hamilton

The weather conditions are quite good for the second practice session of the Interlagos Grand Prix, even though the wind is blowing strong. As often, Heikki Kovalainen is the first to hit the track and sets a time of 1:19.367, quickly beaten by two seconds by Jaime Alguersuari. The Sauber cars show their pace with Pérez taking the lead ahead of Kobayashi. Glock and Pérez make mistakes at Ferradura: the first with severe oversteer, the second with understeer. Sutil then Di Resta climb to the top of the timing sheet with a 1:16.158. The lead changes quickly: after Schumacher, it’s Button who takes over by setting a time of 1:15.190. Hamilton is second, nearly four-tenths off. Buemi, back in his Toro Rosso, is currently twelfth, ahead of his teammate.

With an hour and twenty minutes left in this session, Button, Hamilton, Alonso, and Schumacher are leading the field. The Red Bull drivers are, for now, the only two drivers not to have set times. Hamilton takes the lead by setting a time of 1:13.852, just forty-thousandths off Mark Webber’s time during FP1. Button follows closely with 1:13.898. The two Red Bulls are over eight-tenths behind. They are also the only two cars on the track as a quarter of an hour has already passed. The reigning double world champion is gradually closing in. At the back, Kovalainen is ahead of Trulli by half a second; the Italian driver, however, did not participate in the morning session, which was taken by Luiz Razia.

One hour and ten minutes remaining: Hamilton leads Button, Vettel, Webber, Schumacher, and Alonso. Pérez is on track and takes some risks to secure a provisional seventh time in 1:15.873. He slots himself between the two Ferraris. Now it’s Alguersuari’s turn to slip into P7. At McLaren, work is being done on the front of the car, likely on the anti-roll bar. Traffic is getting denser and there’s considerable interference: Massa is impeded by a Team Lotus, while Webber slows down a Virgin and a Williams. Nonetheless, Massa manages to close in and secure the provisional fourth time in 1:14.562.

More than an hour in this second free practice session here at Interlagos and Hamilton is ahead of Button, Webber, Vettel, Massa, and Kobayashi. Pérez, Alonso, and Hamilton make small mistakes in Ferradura, without consequences. At Ferrari, Jules Bianchi is in the box and is watching the progress of these tests closely. The same goes for Jean-Eric Vergne, who is on the Toro Rosso pit wall. Alonso seems to be struggling with a very oversteering car: this time, it’s in the corner before the big curve towards the pit straight that he is caught out. At the bottom of the rankings, Glock is ahead of D’Ambrosio by four-tenths, and Ricciardo is ahead of Liuzzi by four-tenths as well. At LRGP, Petrov, in sixteenth place, is ahead of Senna by one place and two-tenths.

With fifty minutes to go, Hamilton leads ahead of Button, Webber, Vettel, Massa, Alonso, Pérez, Kobayashi, Schumacher, and Rosberg. Most drivers are currently on long stints, which does not bring any significant improvement in times. It is also worth noting that the top teams’ times were achieved on hard tires (medium – whites). On these white tires, Hamilton falls seven-tenths short of his best time. Senna improves and climbs to tenth position, more than 1.2 seconds ahead of his Russian teammate. The Brazilian improves again, clocking 1:14.937. He is in a provisional seventh place. Very provisional since Nico Rosberg takes second position, twenty-thousandths behind Lewis Hamilton. The Silver Arrows are breaking free since it’s Schumacher’s turn to improve and set a time of 1:13.723, putting him at the top of the timesheet. They are naturally on soft tires (yellows).

Forty minutes to go and Schumacher leads Hamilton, Rosberg, Button, Webber, Vettel, Massa, Alonso, Senna, and Pérez. Button takes the second place on soft tires, with a time of 1:13.787. It’s Hamilton’s turn to improve with the yellow tires, allowing him to take the lead with a time of 1:13.653. The Briton continues to improve and clocks a 1:13.392. If Red Bull can sing *We are the Champions*, Button and Hamilton are certainly the two drivers who could sing *God Save the Queen*, if they manage to save their compatriot Nigel Mansell’s record, which is *Under Pressure* as Vettel could potentially achieve his fifteenth pole of the season.

Half an hour from the end, Hamilton, Schumacher, Massa, Button, Rosberg, Alonso, Webber, Vettel, Di Resta, and Senna make up the top 10. The Red Bulls pull out of the rut and return to the spotlight, securing the second and third fastest times, with Vettel ahead of Webber. Among the top eight, spread across the four major teams, and Paul Di Resta, first of the « others », there is practically a second. Alonso moves back into fourth place with a 1:13.598, slipping ahead of Schumacher. Still struggling with his Williams, Rubens Barrichello must be thinking I’m going slightly mad: the Brazilian is three-tenths behind Maldonado. Senna takes eleventh place, just behind Di Resta.

With only twenty minutes remaining in these FP2, Hamilton leads Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Schumacher, Massa, Button, Rosberg, Sutil, and Di Resta. It is worth noting that Sebastien Buemi slightly surpasses Alguersuari, with both having completed around thirty laps each. Among the leading drivers, long runs are the norm, with laps more than four seconds off their best times. Everyone is on the track except for the black and gold Lotus Renault GP cars, which will soon join the pack. Pérez is stopped in the curve that leads back to the straight, on the outside near the barrier. The Sauber is not well positioned at all. Pérez exits but stays on the wrong side of the barrier, at risk of an off-track incident that could prove dramatic. It’s up to the marshals to push the car, which exposes them to danger as well. Let’s take this opportunity to acknowledge them and their work, essential for holding events like F1 Grand Prix and also smaller races. You can read the interview that one of these enthusiasts gave to Motors Inside in July.

The protagonists enter the final ten minutes: Hamilton leads ahead of Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Schumacher, Massa, Button, Rosberg, Sutil, and Di Resta. At the back, it’s tight: at Virgin, D’Ambrosio has regained the advantage over Glock by twenty-thousandths; at HRT, Liuzzi has closed in on Ricciardo by one-tenth; at Team Lotus, Trulli is ahead of Kovalainen by forty-thousandths. The session is over, and it’s Lewis Hamilton who wins it, ahead of Vettel and Webber.

**Free Practice 2 Rankings for the Brazilian Grand Prix /f1/news/10825-in-the-shoes-of-a-race-marshall.html:**