Brazil – Free Practice 2: Rosberg on top, Alonso on fire and numerous red flags

The sun shines in Sao Paulo, where temperatures have soared: around thirty degrees in the air and, most notably, 55°C on the track.

The session is underway! It should take place without Sergio Pérez, whose Force India, damaged in the morning by Daniel Juncadella, is on blocks in the pits without any attention from the mechanics. The two Lotus cars take the lead, with Maldonado setting the best time at 1:15.467. Sutil makes an error in the Senna esses and ends up in a harmless spin. Jean-Eric Vergne faces a new difficulty: the Toro Rosso is immobilized on the track, the red flag is waved a few minutes later until the car is safely removed.

After the session resumed, Rosberg took the best time with 1:13.572, but was soon overtaken by Ricciardo and Hamilton. The Briton drove the point home afterwards by clocking 1:13.072.

After 30 minutes, Hamilton leads ahead of Ricciardo, Rosberg, Massa, and Räikkönen. But Alonso positions himself between the German and the Brazilian. Rosberg takes advantage of a new lap to come within two-tenths of number 44. Hamilton reports that it is difficult to drive on this track in this heat. Shortly before mid-session, the soft tires come out: Ricciardo logically takes the lead of the session, just over a tenth ahead of Hamilton. Rosberg and Hamilton also improve, with number 6 five-tenths ahead of number 44. Räikkönen makes the same mistake as in the morning: he brakes on the grass before the last corner and goes wide.

After an hour, Rosberg leads Hamilton, Räikkönen, Ricciardo, and Bottas. A few minutes later, Alonso stops on the track with his engine smoking. Worse, a fire breaks out. The Spaniard quickly exits his cockpit, grabs a fire extinguisher, and puts out the start of the fire. Red flag. The session resumes for a little quarter of an hour as the double world champion returns to the pits on foot with a big smile. Sauber will smile less: Gutierrez has to stop his car almost in the same spot as Alonso. Another red flag.

The session resumes for nine minutes with the remaining 14 drivers. No changes in the standings, as long stints are underway, which shows that the tires deteriorate very quickly and in a very dramatic fashion.