Free Practice 2 – In extremis, Alonso tops the entire field

As the rain appeared midway through the session, Fernando Alonso (Renault), in a very difficult position until the last minute, managed to turn the situation around to claim victory in Free Practice 2 at Interlagos ahead of the final Grand Prix of the 2008 season in Brazil.

The Spaniard snatched the first place held by Felipe Massa in the very last seconds of the session. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) could do no better than ninth place. Jarno Trulli finished among the top three for Toyota, ahead of Massa’s teammate, Kimi Räikkönen.

Massa stayed at the forefront for an hour and 30 minutes while Hamilton spent most of the afternoon around the tenth place, half a second behind the leaders. Numerous wheel lock-ups were also attributed to him in the second sector. The main difficulties were therefore focused on the tires.

The Brazilian took the lead of the operations for the first time after 12 minutes, but a minute later he was overtaken by Trulli.

Four minutes later, the two drivers were overtaken by Nico Rosberg. The German was one of the first to assess the soft tires. Trulli followed him and took the opportunity to reclaim first place.

In the meantime, Ferrari preferred to stick with the same types of tires. A new series allowed them to top the timesheet with 1:12.569 after half an hour. They then improved by 0.216 seconds when they equipped the soft tires.

At the end of the session, the weather remained relatively similar with persistent drizzle. These conditions led the drivers to be extra cautious, but several of them were caught off guard with spins or excursions onto the grass. The track lost several degrees, leading to a lack of grip.

The two Toyota drivers, Sébastien Bourdais’ Toro Rosso and Mark Webber’s Red Bull have been involved in a series of incidents.

In the last few minutes, the track dried enough to see improved lap times. With only 90 seconds remaining, Alonso was headed for a modest 18th place. But that was without counting on the determination of the Renault team, which used soft tires on both its cars to send its two drivers back out for a single timed lap. The result was striking, with Alonso in 1st place and his teammate Nelson Piquet, in front of his home crowd, in seventh.

What pushed Massa and Trulli to become second and third ahead of Räikkönen. Mark Webber’s Red Bull is eventually 5th and Sebastian Vettel’s Toro Rosso 6th.

Rosberg fell to eighth position at the end of the session. Hamilton locked up his wheels one last time on his final lap, putting him in 9th place ahead of Kazuki Nakajima (Williams). The British driver’s teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, is only in 15th place.

The BMW-Saubers are far behind with the 12th and 13th fastest times, Kubica ahead of Heidfeld. The Pole and the German are behind David Coulthard, who improved compared to free practice 1 with his white Red Bull, and ahead of Timo Glock (Toyota).

Honda and Force India still share the back of the grid. The Japanese team, as usual, is ahead of the Indian team. Barrichello is 16th and Button 18th, while Sutil is 19th and Fisichella 20th. Bourdais finds himself in this group in 17th position.

Free Practice 2 Results – Brazilian GP – October 31, 2008