» Rosberg finishes Friday on top

Nico Rosberg has ended Friday practice on top again, after beating the Ferrari pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel in FP2. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton was four-tenths off the pace in fourth.

While it was business as usual for Rosberg, Hamilton couldn’t seem to get comfortable and he was noticeably slower in the long run simulations. Rosberg was averaging a 1:38.9, while Hamilton’s average fell over half a second from his teammate’s.

Romain Grosjean brought out the first red flag of the session as he was the first of three drivers to venture off the track into the gravel at Luffield. Prior to his excursion off the race track, Grosjean was complaining of rear brake issues which may have been the cause for his mistake. His Lotus was beached in the gravel and the session stopped while it was recovered.

The incident was a major blow for the Frenchman, who also had to sit out of FP1 while reserve driver Jolyon Palmer occupied his car for the third week running. Grosjean ended the session with 21 laps, compared to team-mate Pastor Maldonado’s 32.

Fernando Alonso shortly followed in Grosjean’s tracks, where he also explored the gravel trap at Luffield. The Spaniard, however, was able to keep the car running without bogging down and he was able to continue on and return to the pits.

Roberto Merhi was the last of the drivers to visit Luffield’s gravel trap, spinning on entry to the Turn Seven corner and almost beaching his Manor-Marussia. After taking a while to find reverse gear, the session was briefly red flagged just as Merhi got going again.

Hamilton struggled to find a good setup as he complained that his car was “all over the place” while completing his long run simulation. Teammate Rosberg’s lap times were up to 1.5 seconds a lap quicker, leaving Hamilton a lot of work to do with 10 minutes left to run in the session after the second red flag.

Jenson Button was another driver struggling with his setup, calling his car “undriveable”. Neither Button nor Alonso completed their full practice schedule, completing 16 and 19 laps respectively.

Saturday’s final practice session at Silverstone begins at 10:00am local time (GMT +1).

2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 Results
Pos	Driver	Team / Entry	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W06 Hybrid	1:34.155		34
2.	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari SF15-T	1:34.502	+ 0.347	29
3.	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari SF15-T	1:34.522	+ 0.367	27
4.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W06 Hybrid	1:34.621	+ 0.466	23
5.	Daniil Kvyat	Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB11	1:35.009	+ 0.854	25
6.	Daniel Ricciardo	Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB11	1:35.153	+ 0.998	22
7.	Max Verstappen	Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR10	1:35.300	+ 1.145	36
8.	Nico Hülkenberg	Sahara Force India Mercedes VJM08	1:35.387	+ 1.232	34
9.	Carlos Sainz	Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR10	1:35.866	+ 1.711	37
10.	Felipe Massa	Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW37	1:36.147	+ 1.992	33
11.	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1 Team Mercedes E23 Hybrid	1:36.164	+ 2.009	32
12.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW37	1:36.183	+ 2.028	33
13.	Sergio Pérez	Sahara Force India Mercedes VJM08	1:36.351	+ 2.196	29
14.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Team Mercedes E23 Hybrid	1:36.728	+ 2.573	21
15.	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda MP4-30	1:36.731	+ 2.576	19
16.	Felipe Nasr	Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C34	1:36.822	+ 2.667	23
17.	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda MP4-30	1:37.196	+ 3.041	16
18.	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C34	1:37.327	+ 3.172	37
19.	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03	1:38.279	+ 4.124	21
20.	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03	1:39.878	+ 5.723	21