Spain – Free Practice 2: Hamilton and Mercedes, far ahead of Ricciardo and Ferrari

The weather remains perfect in Montmelo for the second free practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix. With one early piece of information: Sebastian Vettel will not participate due to an electrical issue. A significant setback for the four-time World Champion.

The session is underway and Romain Grosjean (Lotus) is the first on the track, with a practice start for the Franco-Swiss driver. Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham) has a slight scare by understeering onto the curb marking the entrance to the pits and the track. Meanwhile, Max Chilton (Marussia) is called back to the pits due to an engine problem. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) is the first leader with a time of 1:29.275, but Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) takes the lead in the first quarter-hour.

After 25 minutes, Maldonado and Ericsson are the first drivers to switch to medium (white) tires. The Venezuelan actually takes the provisional 4th place, behind Hamilton, Rosberg, and Ricciardo, and ahead of Alonso and Räikkönen. Issues persist for Chilton, who has to go back to the pits again. Oversteer problems continue for all drivers, especially Grosjean, who complains about it over the radio, as well as for the Caterham team.

A fifty minutes from the end, Daniel Ricciardo, on medium tires, takes the lead, five-tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Following this, Nico Rosberg improves by five-tenths as well, but the Brit doesn’t let the lead position last long: he sets a 1:25.524, which is more than four-tenths ahead of his teammate. All, of course, on medium tires.

For his part, Grosjean falls victim to an issue and is stopped at the end of the pit lane, before being pushed back by his mechanics. « Starting procedure problem » for the Lotus driver, who can quickly restart. On the track, he notices that his oversteering problems persist. Meanwhile, Max Chilton has lost a small aerodynamic element (the famous monkey seat) on the track; a marshal manages to retrieve it after a lengthy period under yellow flag.

After an hour, Hamilton (1:25.524) leads Rosberg (+0.449), Ricciardo (+0.985), Alonso (+1.597), and Räikkönen (+1.772). Most drivers are on their long stints, loaded with fuel, or testing different solutions, like Mercedes, which has a lot of downforce on Rosberg’s car and little on Hamilton’s. Maldonado, on the other hand, is driving a lot, to the point of running out of the tires at his disposal.

The brakes are too long, you should come back, it’s not safe, says A. Komatsu to Romain Grosjean. Certainly, a difficult first day for the Frenchman. Maldonado, five minutes before the end of the session, must come in due to an issue with the gearbox. And now it’s Vergne who has a problem: the Frenchman’s Toro Rosso lost its right rear wheel while exiting the pits, without any harm to the driver, who calmly stops, nor to the marshals or spectators. The yellow flag is waved, improvements should not be many. Chilton goes straight into turn 4 and is immobilized in the gravel.

The checkered flag is waved: Lewis Hamilton dominates ahead of Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo.