Singapore – Free Practice 2: Hamilton on Top, Vettel on the Edge and Maldonado in the Wall

A few minutes before the start of FP2, it is clear that Sebastian Vettel will not be on track right away: the German driver is in shorts in the Red Bull hospitality while his mechanics are busy with his RB10 to change the hybrid unit. The German will not receive a penalty because he was using an old engine for FP1.

The session is underway! Marcus Ericsson is the first on track, followed by Max Chilton. At Mercedes, they are finishing work on Nico Rosberg’s anti-roll bar, while Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button are the first drivers from a leading team to set times: the Dane takes the lead with 1:51.644. Vergne improves this time by seven-tenths a few moments later before Ricciardo betters it by five-tenths.

After more than a quarter of an hour, the two Mercedes take the lead in the session, with 1:49.075 for Rosberg, more than a second ahead of Hamilton. Alonso, the morning leader, slots in between the Silver Arrows. On the radio, the 2008 world champion complains about a difficult car to drive. In the paddock, Sebastian Vettel has put on his suit again and, after exchanging a few words with Niki Lauda and Jackie Stewart, heads to his pit. The super-soft tires make their first appearance today, with Esteban Gutierrez.

After 30 minutes, Rosberg is ahead of Alonso by 3 tenths, Hamilton by more than a second, Ricciardo and Bottas by 1.3s. Gutierrez, one of the first on super-soft tires, takes second position and Pérez the first, with 1:48.653! The difference between the two tire compounds is very significant on this long track. An improvement of up to 2.5s is expected with the red-walled tires, as indicated to Chilton. Ricciardo takes the lead with 1:47.790, but Rosberg takes to the track to improve. However, he won’t be able to do so immediately as Pastor Maldonado has crashed into the wall at the outside of turn 10. The car is very damaged, and the red flag is waved while the track is cleared.

The session can resume seven minutes later with Lewis Hamilton heading out on super-soft tires. Unsurprisingly, the Briton takes the lead with a time of 1:47.490, even though his lap wasn’t perfect. Alonso comes within 0.130 seconds.

After an hour, Hamilton, Alonso, Ricciardo, Räikkönen, and Magnussen make up the provisional top 5 of these FP2 sessions. In the pits, Vettel is still waiting for his RB10 to be operational. On the track, the drivers are in long stints, with one observation: the degradation of the super-soft tires seems moderate. Magnussen reports on his radio that he thinks something is broken on his car. Chilton, on the other hand, suffers from a turbo problem; he has to stop in a runoff area.

Ten minutes before the end, Vettel gets into his cockpit and can head out on the track on super-soft tires. He sets the 5th fastest provisional time on his first flying lap. He improves his time afterward, but doesn’t change his position.

The session concludes with the fastest time set by Lewis Hamilton.