BARCELONA: Nico Rosberg topped the times ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Friday’s second free practice session for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The 30-year-old German leader of this year’s title race, who is 43 points ahead of defending three-time champion Hamilton, clocked a best lap in one minute and 23.922 seconds.
This enabled him to outpace Finn Raikkonen by 0.254 seconds and Hamilton by seven-tenths, ample proof that he has the pace and edge to extend his winning sequence to five races this year and eight in all in Sunday’s contest at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Rosberg had been third-fastest in the morning, half a second behind the two Ferraris led by Raikkonen’s team-mate, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, as the three top teams embarked in pairs in the opening session of the day.
That saw the two Ferraris head the Mercedes men and the two Red Bulls with Australian Daniel Ricciardo leading an impressive Max Verstappen in fifth and sixth places, an effort the Dutch teenager almost reprised in the second session.
Vettel was down to fourth in the afternoon ahead of a resurgent and inspired Spaniard Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso, Ricciardo and local hero, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren.
They all improved to push Verstappen down into eighth in the second Red Bull ahead of the two Force Indias of Mexican Sergio Perez and German Nico Hulkenberg.
Russian Daniil Kvyat, demoted to Toro Rosso to make room at Red Bull for the Dutch debutant Verstappen, who went in the other direction, struggled to 15th place.
But, on a day when 10 drivers from Vettel to 13th-placed Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Haas, clocked tightly-packed times in the 1:25’s, it was barely of great significance.
Rosberg was, as Vettel had been in the morning, the only driver to dip under the 1:24 barrier in the afternoon with Raikkonen and Hamilton in close pursuit — a scenario that means Hamilton needs to make a quantum leap overnight if he is to close the gap in Saturday’s qualifying session.
The 30-year-old German leader of this year’s title race, who is 43 points ahead of defending three-time champion Hamilton, clocked a best lap in one minute and 23.922 seconds.
This enabled him to outpace Finn Raikkonen by 0.254 seconds and Hamilton by seven-tenths, ample proof that he has the pace and edge to extend his winning sequence to five races this year and eight in all in Sunday’s contest at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Rosberg had been third-fastest in the morning, half a second behind the two Ferraris led by Raikkonen’s team-mate, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, as the three top teams embarked in pairs in the opening session of the day.
That saw the two Ferraris head the Mercedes men and the two Red Bulls with Australian Daniel Ricciardo leading an impressive Max Verstappen in fifth and sixth places, an effort the Dutch teenager almost reprised in the second session.
Vettel was down to fourth in the afternoon ahead of a resurgent and inspired Spaniard Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso, Ricciardo and local hero, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren.
They all improved to push Verstappen down into eighth in the second Red Bull ahead of the two Force Indias of Mexican Sergio Perez and German Nico Hulkenberg.
Russian Daniil Kvyat, demoted to Toro Rosso to make room at Red Bull for the Dutch debutant Verstappen, who went in the other direction, struggled to 15th place.
But, on a day when 10 drivers from Vettel to 13th-placed Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Haas, clocked tightly-packed times in the 1:25’s, it was barely of great significance.
Rosberg was, as Vettel had been in the morning, the only driver to dip under the 1:24 barrier in the afternoon with Raikkonen and Hamilton in close pursuit — a scenario that means Hamilton needs to make a quantum leap overnight if he is to close the gap in Saturday’s qualifying session.
