Mexican GP Practice Two: Sebastian Vettel fastest from Lewis Hamilton
Rosberg almost half a second down on Lewis and Sebastian
Thursday 3 November 2016 08:38, UK
Sebastian Vettel was the surprise pacesetter in second practice for the Mexican GP ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton set laps 0.004 and 0.013 seconds shy of Vettel's early benchmark but was unable to dislodge the Ferrari from the top of the timesheets.
Ferrari haven't won a race in over a year and had only previously headed a Friday timsheet this season at the Chinese GP in April.
"We had a very good day," Vettel told Sky F1. "Lewis's lap didn't look particularly good so I think he has more in the pocket, so tomorrow we need to be realistic."
But perhaps more significantly world championship leader Nico Rosberg, who will secure the title if he wins this weekend and Hamilton finishes 10th or lower, struggled and was almost half a second slower than Vettel and Hamilton on his qualifying simulation.
Earlier in Practice One, Rosberg had been nearly eight tenths slower than his Mercedes team-mate and championship rival when they both ran on medium tyres and Hamilton was fastest from Vettel.
This year's event is only the second Mexican GP staged since the race returned to the calendar twelve months ago after a 20-year absence.
"The track is feeling better than it did last year and I feel a lot more comfortable in the car than I did the first time we came to this circuit," said Hamilton.
Rosberg narrowly avoided hitting the wall when he ran wide during his first Practice Two supersoft lap but had already been slower than both Vettel and Hamilton in the first sector.
"We have a lot of homework to do tonight," the German admitted. "Ferrari seemed very quick, so they will be a big threat."
The session saw a large divergence on tyre strategy as the field grappled with the tricky Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit. Although featuring a series of long straights, the track's corners are almost invariably slow, a configuration which appears to have at once both highlighted the weakness of the Red Bull package and nullified its aerodynamic strength.
Having emerged as Mercedes' closest rivals since the summer break, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen lacked the pace of both the Silver Arrows and Ferrari and ended the day just fifth and seventh respectively, split by the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg.
The lap time of the Renault-bound Hulkenberg was all the more impressive for being set on soft tyres and nearly a second better than the best effort of his team-mate Sergio Perez.
On an afternoon to forget for the two Mexicans in the field, Perez was just 15th while compatriot Esteban Gutierrez, fighting to keep his seat at Haas for 2017, was last.
For McLaren, still aiming to end the year as the fourth-fastest team, Fernando Alonso just snuck into the top 10, two places ahead of Jenson Button.
Mexican GP Practice Two timesheet
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:19.70
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, + 0.004
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, + 0.435
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, + 0.469
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, + 0.658
6. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, + 0.784
7. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, + 0.829
8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, + 0.839
9. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1.184
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, + 1.213
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, + 1.403
12. Jenson Button, McLaren, + 1.408
13. Felipe Massa, Williams, + 1.536
14. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, + 1.652
15. Sergio Perez, Force India, + 1.789
16. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, + 1.995
17. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, + 2.190
18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, + 2.207
19. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, + 2.247
20. Romain Grosjean, Haas, + 2.315
21. Esteban Ocon, Manor, + 2.508
22. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, + 2.618
* All times set on supersoft tyres except for Hulkenberg and Perez on softs.
