Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg once again topped the timesheets during the second free practice session for the British Grand Prix on Friday, beating Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel into second and third place respectively.
After suffering a hydraulic leak during FP1 on Friday, Rosberg bounced back in the afternoon to record a fastest lap time of 1:34.155, giving himself an advantage of almost four-tenths of a second over Raikkonen in second place.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was unable to match the time of his Mercedes teammate during the second practice session, finishing the day in fourth place with almost half a second to find and less than impressed with the setup of the Mercedes car.
Red Bull found its feet to get both Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo into the top six during FP2, whilst Max Verstappen finished seventh for Red Bull. Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz Jr and Felipe Massa rounded out the top ten.
The session was not without its drama, though, as two red flag periods interrupted the running. The first was issued during the first 30 minutes of the session when Romain Grosjean beached his car in the gravel at Luffield, requiring recovery.
Fernando Alonso very nearly fell foul of the same fate not long after, but managed to find a patch of grass to use as a path back to the tarmac, allowing the Spaniard to continue. He would ultimately finish the session in 15th place.
However, Roberto Merhi was less fortunate in the Manor. He too made an error at Luffield, leaving the car stranded on the edge of the track. The stewards threw a red flag, only for the Spaniard to find his reverse gear and get back on his way, meaning that the session could quickly resume.
At the top though, it was Rosberg once again who led that way for Mercedes. The German driver has plenty of momentum heading into this weekend with three wins in the past four races, leaving Hamilton with a big mountain to climb ahead of qualifying on Saturday.
