Brazil – Free Practice 2: Lewis Hamilton’s Ride

The first driver to take off is Romain Grosjean in this second free practice session of the Brazilian Grand Prix, which promises to be hot since the track temperature is 48°C compared to 33°C in the air. A temperature that doesn’t scare Rubens Barrichello, who is leisurely strolling through the paddock in Sao Paulo. The first interesting time is set by Daniel Ricciardo, in the Toro Rosso, at 1:17.648, quickly improved by a returning Kimi Räikkönen, at 1:16.538, who experienced some engine problems this morning. Grosjean, Webber, and then Hamilton do better while Maldonado understeers at turn 4. Vettel, hampered by Alonso, does not hesitate to politely but firmly signal it to the Ferrari driver. Mark Webber takes the lead before being surpassed by Felipe Massa, who sets a time of 1:15.473. It should be noted that, for the moment, the drivers are on hard (silver) tires.

**After 10 minutes** in these Free Practice 2 sessions, Massa leads Webber, Alonso, Rosberg, and Hamilton. Only the HRT cars haven’t hit the track yet. Hülkenberg, in provisional twelfth, complains about the lack of grip to his team. Alonso then Vettel take the lead in the session: the two men are separated by 48 thousandths, with a time of 1:15.226 for the German. On the McLaren side, Button positions himself between the two contenders while Hamilton finishes less than two-tenths behind the Red Bull. As for HRT, the garage is very calm, with no activity around the two cars that don’t have tires.

After 20 minutes of testing, Vettel leads Button, Alonso, Hamilton, and Massa. Only Romain Grosjean and Vitaly Petrov are on the track. Räikkönen comes out of the pits after the Lotus mechanics worked on the front of his car. Vergne has fitted medium (white) tires: he is the first to do so. His times improve instantly. For Kimi Räikkönen, braking too late at the end of the straight forces him to go straight ahead and return to the track after the Senna S. The leading drivers are starting to come out very gradually.

After half an hour, Vettel is still ahead of Button, Alonso, Webber, and Hamilton. The two HRTs are still not on the track. Felipe Massa brakes hard at the end of the straight and locks up his front left wheel for a long time. In a particularly fast lap, Alonso makes a small mistake in sector three, preventing him from improving his position even though he consolidates his third place. On the following lap, it’s Vettel who, catching up with Alonso, has to cut his effort. The Spaniard sets the best time at 1:15.150. Grosjean falls short by 32 thousandths of a second behind the Ferrari after a far from perfect lap. A rare sight: Jenson Button slides in the inner section, a slight steering correction and the McLaren avoids a spin.

**After forty minutes**, the HRTs are finally out. In the standings, Alonso leads ahead of Grosjean, Vettel, Button, and Webber. Grosjean, on medium tires, is the first driver to go under the 1:15 mark by setting a time of 1:14.994 with the best second sector. A few moments later, Räikkönen takes the provisional sixth place, also on medium tires. In one of his laps, Alonso lacks grip in the inner part and struggles with his Ferrari to avoid spinning. The track activity decreases slightly, and the more modest teams – Toro Rosso, Sauber, Williams, Caterham, and Marussia – keep the asphalt busy. Nico Rosberg, on medium tires, sets the provisional best time at 1:14.822.

**After fifty minutes**, Rosberg leads Grosjean, Alonso, Vettel, and Button. Hamilton and Massa have gone back out and quickly make their presence known by setting the first and second fastest times, respectively. The McLaren driver records a 1:14.026, the best time of the day. The installation of medium tires lowers the times. Webber takes second place, four-tenths off the 2008 world champion, and Schumacher takes fifth position, six-tenths behind.

Half an hour before the end, Hamilton, Webber, Massa, Alonso, and Schumacher make up the provisional top 5 of this second free practice. Vettel leaves the pits on medium tires: after clocking the fastest first sector, the German loses time in sector 2 and ultimately finishes more than two-tenths behind the Briton. Kobayashi, going too far inside at the exit of the Senna S, lifts slightly on the curb and gives himself a small scare before calmly continuing his lap. On track, most drivers begin to undertake heavy fuel runs; few improvements are expected in the upcoming moments, like Lewis Hamilton, at the top of the time sheets, starting a race simulation.

Twenty minutes from the end, Charles Pic stops his Marussia in turn 10, due to what seems to be – indeed – an alternator problem. The yellow flag is waved in this section. All drivers are on the track, like Kimi Räikkönen who complains about his tires overheating and the lack of front grip. Massa, on the other hand, goes a bit wide and scrapes the floor of his Ferrari on the curb, without much consequence. At the back of the pack, Kovalainen and Glock engage in a small battle at the end of the pit straight: the Caterham driver brakes late on the inside and, struggling, manages to overtake Glock at the start of the Senna S’s. Gentlemen, calm down, these are just free practice sessions!

Ten minutes from the checkered flag, Hamilton is still leading ahead of Vettel, Webber, Massa, and Alonso. De la Rosa finally comes back out after a pause of several dozen minutes, and he’s the only one improving at the end of the session. The Spaniard takes the luxury of getting ahead of the two Marussias.

The checkered flag is waved and it’s Lewis Hamilton who once again sets the best time in these tests, outpacing the two Red Bull drivers more clearly than in FP1.

Free Practice 3 Results of the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix: