Closely matched Mercedes pair dominates FP2

F1 Grand Prix, GP Brazil, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were extremely closely matched during the second practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix as just 30 hundredths of a second separated the Championship contenders. The duo dominated proceedings with the closest competitor ending up nearly half a second behind.

Even though Valtteri Bottas ended up half a second down on pace setter Lewis Hamilton, the Finn and team mate Felipe Massa showed improved pace in their Williams cars compared to the morning session. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen ended up in 5th and 6th in their Red Bulls, lagging behind the Mercedes after being on-par with them in the morning.

The Ferraris were 7th and 8th fastest, followed by Nico Hulkenberg for Force India and ahead of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso for McLaren Honda.

10th and 11th in itself wasn't bad for McLaren, but it wasn't particularly good either as Fernando Alonso was asked to stop his car and jump out of it at turn 3, following an ERS problem. Similar to what happened last year, the Spaniard opted to see what was going on from behind the barriers, until he was invited to join a cameraman's lair, where he eventually ended up controlling the camera.