In the second free practice session in Brazil, Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest in 1’09”875, completing a total of 48 laps. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was sixth quickest with a 1’10”117, doing 45 laps. Both Prancing Horse drivers ran the usual tyre programme, using new Softs and Supersofts, setting their best times of the afternoon on the latter. Tomorrow, the final hour of free practice at Interlagos gets underway at 14h00 CET, with qualifying following on at 17h00.
Both practice sessions at the Autodromo Carlos Pace turned out to be quite uneventful, as despite the ever-present threat of rain, drivers only had to contend with a few intermittent and harmless drops during FP2. Scuderia Ferrari drivers jumped at the opportunity to rack up the laps of the 4.3 Km circuit, working mostly in preparation for Sunday’s race, which is supposed to be run in dry conditions. Sebastian Vettel covered 48 laps and Kimi Raikkonen 45 laps during the first day in Brazil. The second-shortest lap of the season (after Monaco) means cars are not only nearly always turning, but also going offline to overtake, while the rapid series of corners and high energy loads put quite high demands on tyres. Lewis Hamilton topped both Friday sessions, finishing 0.048 seconds clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas in practice two at Interlagos.
“It’s only a Friday” – said Kimi Raikkonen, as reported by the Italian media at the end of the second practice session ahead of the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix – “and as always, we keep trying different things to learn from them. The tires will play a key role here as usual, the performance will depend on how they work and how long they will last. I felt some vibrations at the beginning of my stint, but that’s quite normal to have sometimes in the car: usually it comes from tires and different sets. We don’t know what the temperatures will be over the rest of the weekend, but we cannot change them anyway and it will be the same for everybody” – Scuderia Ferrari’s Finnish driver explained on Friday.
The third and final practice session will start tomorrow at 11 AM local time. There is a high chance of showers.
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