Nico Rosberg has finished Friday’s practice on top in a rain-affected second session at the Red Bull Ring, narrowly ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg set a late lap to finish in third, 0.6 seconds off the pace.
Rosberg set his best time of a 1:07.967 only a few minutes into the session before heavy rain began falling at Turns 8 and 9. The rain quickly picked up in volume and within moments the track was covered with standing water.
This saw the entire field confined to their garages as the rain swept across the Red Bull Ring and flooded the main straight.
With half of the session remaining, Daniel Ricciardo was the first driver to head out to the track on a set of intermediate tyres, to which his Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen soon followed.
The rest of the field – apart from Hamilton, the Sauber and Manor Racing drivers – also joined the circuit to evaluate the condition of the track, as more rain is forecast during qualifying tomorrow.
Track conditions improved every lap as the sun returned, so it became difficult to gauge which teams ran well on the intermediate tyre. Carlos Sainz enjoyed a strong session, as he set competitive times on the wet track and finished the session in sixth position overall.
Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen was the first driver to make the switch to slick tyres with 18 minutes of the 90-minute session left to run. The Finn put on a set of super soft tyres while his teammate Sebastian Vettel chose the ultra-softs.
Hamilton put in his best time of the session to slot into second position on the ultra-soft tyre, while Vettel brought the session to an early end after the German slid off the track into the Turn 2 gravel, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car.
FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS VON ÖSTERREICH 2016 – FREE PRACTICE 2 SESSION RESULTS | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Team / Entry | Result | Laps | |||
1. | Nico Rosberg | ![]() |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W07 Hybrid | 1:07.967 | 25 | |
2. | Lewis Hamilton | ![]() |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W07 Hybrid | + 0.019 | 19 | |
3. | Nico Hülkenberg | ![]() |
Sahara Force India Mercedes VJM09 | + 0.613 | 28 | |
4. | Sebastian Vettel | ![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari SF16-H | + 0.622 | 25 | |
5. | Daniel Ricciardo | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer RB12 | + 0.682 | 30 | |
6. | Carlos Sainz Jr | ![]() |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR11 | + 0.746 | 32 | |
7. | Max Verstappen | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer RB12 | + 0.794 | 20 | |
8. | Kimi Räikkönen | ![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari SF16-H | + 0.853 | 23 | |
9. | Valtteri Bottas | ![]() |
Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW38 | + 0.974 | 24 | |
10. | Jenson Button | ![]() |
McLaren-Honda MP4-31 | + 1.027 | 30 | |
11. | Fernando Alonso | ![]() |
McLaren-Honda MP4-31 | + 1.108 | 26 | |
12. | Felipe Massa | ![]() |
Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW38 | + 1.217 | 17 | |
13. | Daniil Kvyat | ![]() |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR11 | + 1.240 | 26 | |
14. | Sergio Pérez | ![]() |
Sahara Force India Mercedes VJM09 | + 1.259 | 32 | |
15. | Kevin Magnussen | ![]() |
Renault Sport F1 Team RS16 | + 1.558 | 19 | |
16. | Jolyon Palmer | ![]() |
Renault Sport F1 Team RS16 | + 2.053 | 23 | |
17. | Pascal Wehrlein | ![]() |
Manor Racing Mercedes MRT5 | + 2.067 | 20 | |
18. | Esteban Gutiérrez | ![]() |
Haas F1 Ferrari VF-16 | + 2.171 | 16 | |
19. | Marcus Ericsson | ![]() |
Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C35 | + 2.173 | 19 | |
20. | Romain Grosjean | ![]() |
Haas F1 Ferrari VF-16 | + 2.433 | 31 | |
21. | Felipe Nasr | ![]() |
Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C35 | + 2.477 | 22 | |
22. | Rio Haryanto | ![]() |
Manor Racing Mercedes MRT5 | + 3.361 | 25 |
Image via Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
Josh Kruse
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