Hamilton two tenths up on Rosberg; Ferrari half a second behind
Monday 3 October 2016 09:02, UK
Lewis Hamilton returned to form as he outpaced Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg in Practice Two for the Malaysia GP.
Hamilton, who has lost the lead of the title race to Rosberg after three successive victories for the German since the summer break, didn't top a session throughout the full Singapore GP weekend.
But the reigning world champion looked to be back on form as he set the pace around the relaid-Sepang circuit, beating Rosberg by over two tenths of a second on a solid opening day for the Englishman.
Hamilton was already third quickest on hard tyres behind Rosberg and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel before switching to the softs and leaping to the top of the timesheets. Hamilton was the fastest driver in all three sectors.
"That was a good day today," said the Mercedes driver. "Overall a good building block for tomorrow and the rest of the weekend."
Sebastian Vettel finished third quickest but half a second down on the two Mercedes cars which, unless the forecast rain arrives, appear to be a class above the rest over a single lap. The Ferrari was in turn four tenths up on Max Verstappen, the fastest Red Bull driver, with Force India's Sergio Perez sixth.
However, the pace of Ferrari and Mercedes appeared to be far closer on their long-run simulations. A year ago, Vettel beat Rosberg and Hamilton to victory by taking one fewer pit-stop than the two Silver Arrows.
Maintaining an encouraging run of recent form, Fernando Alonso, powered by a fresh upgraded Honda engine, was seventh. After breaching his permitted power unit allowance for the year, Alonso will have to start Sunday's race from the back of the grid as a result of fitting his new engine. However, the Spaniard is expected to revert to an old unit for the rest of the weekend in order to save up the new model for the Japanese GP, Honda's home race, next week.
Kevin Magnussen returned to action in his Renault despite his car catching fire during the early stages of Practice One.
Meanwhile, the teams have received an official apology from track authorities after the 'pit exit lane was painted in the wrong place'. The mistake has now been rectified.
Hamilton's acid test? Sky F1 analysis
Reports Sky F1's Ted Kravitz:
"There is part of this car, part of the front suspension, which doesn't really suit Lewis Hamilton's driving style particularly well - and that manifests itself at circuits which reward big late braking, like Singapore and like Italy, where Nico Rosberg won. But now we are at a circuit where it shouldn't affect him as much.
"The paddock is expecting Lewis to go a lot better this weekend than he did at Singapore. So what we are looking at is something of an acid test for Lewis. If he comes out second best, then I think we will have to say that all the momentum will be with Nico Rosberg. But if Hamilton wins, a lot of people will think he will be unstoppable during the title run-in."
Malaysia GP Practice Two timesheet
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:34.944
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, + 0.233
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, + 0.661
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, + 0.989
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, + 1.093
6. Sergio Perez, Force India, + 1.340
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, + 1.352
8. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, + 1.393
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, + 1.446
10. Jenson Button, McLaren, + 1.771
11. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, + 1.892
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, + 1.996
13. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, + 2.072
14. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, + 2.104
15. Felipe Massa, Williams, + 2.166
16. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, + 2.353
17. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, + 2.505
18. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, + 2.603
19. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, + 2.720
20. Romain Grosjean, Haas, + 2.845
21. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, + 2.934
22. Esteban Ocon, Manor, + 3.046
