Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes AMG Petronas have finished Free Practice Two at the top of the time sheets but it wasn’t all good news.
Hamilton had set a time of 1:34.508 to be one of two people to break into the 1:34s – team mate Nico Rosberg was the other finishing two tenths back – but coming out of the pits his engine seemingly shut down by itself and he had to abandon it by the side of the track with 30 minutes remaining.
Thankfully the skilled marshals managed to avoid the red flag coming out by pushing Hamilton’s car to safety under the somewhat moderate protection of double waved yellows.
In third place and remaining consistent was Fernando Alonso who was seven tenths behind Hamilton but must be feeling confident of snatching a good qualifying position should the Mercedes engine falter in quali.
It was a strange session for Toro Rosso, the cars were going alright – 10th and 12th for Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat respectively – but getting into the last twenty minutes of the session it appeared the left front wheel of Vergne’s car had failed and was a couple of inches from coming completely off the car. Thankfully the Frenchman pulled off track without too much fuss.
Indeed a strange incident also befell Valterri Bottas in the Williams who was the victim of body work failure coming down Hanger Straight. The body work behind the left side pod ripped open and scattered carbon fibre down the track, it is unknown what caused it but the Finn did get the car back to the pits under its own steam.
However, moving now onto more positive news and it seems as though the McLarens may be on the up after a tough season so far. A seventh and eighth for Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen shows the Woking team is at least making some progress and could be in a good position for qualifying at 1pm tomorrow, which will be covered live on The Checkered Flag.
