Daniel Ricciardo topped the time sheets in the second Free Practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix for Red Bull Racing on Thursday, with the Australian improving on his first session time of 1:16.308 to set a time of 1:14.607 at the Monte Carlo circuit.
Lewis Hamilton set a time sixth tenths behind Ricciardo but 0.293s ahead of Mercedes AMG PETRONAS team-mate Nico Rosberg. The lock-ups into Turn 1 of Ste Devote continued into FP2, with Rosberg amongst those to cause a brief yellow flag when he locked up. He managed to save the run without going down the escape road.
Behind Rosberg was the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen who led the two Scuderia Toro Rosso‘s of Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz Jr. Sainz improved on his morning session of finishing tenth to finishing sixth with a time of 1:15.981. The first Scuderia Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen finished behind Sainz with Sergio Perez splitting the team-mates to go eighth fastest with a time of 1:16.120 in front of Sebastian Vettel.
It was a disappointing session for the German after being in two different incidents, his first when he locked up, span and then backed into the barrier at Mirabeau, with damage being sustained to his rear wing. His second incident was after he returned to the track after the change of rear wing. He tapped the back end at Ste Devote and wasn’t until he pitted that it was found there was damage to the wheel rim.
Jenson Button improved on his morning session to complete the top ten for McLaren-Honda with a time of 1:16.325. Behind the Briton was the second Sahara Force India of Nico Hulkenberg who set a fastest lap time of 1:16.487, only 0.162s behind Button. Fernando Alonso finished the session in twelfth, finishing 0.398s behind his team-mate of Button.
Esteban Gutierrez set a fastest lap time for Haas F1 to go thirteenth fastest, improving on his morning session in Monte Carlo. Behind him was the first Williams Martini Racing of Valtteri Bottas. Romain Grosjean completed the session behind Bottas, but it wasn’t an easy session for him after ten minutes in he lost the back end of his VF-16 and crashed into the barrier, leaving debris at the chicane.
In a late start to his FP2 session after crashing out in FP1, Felipe Massa managed to set a time of 1:17.286 to go sixteenth fastest ahead of the Renault of Kevin Magnussen. The Dane crashed out on the final corner, a location that is not a typical accident at the Circuit de Monaco. Behind Magnussen was Marcus Ericsson who set a fastest lap time of 1:17.562 for Sauber.
Jolyon Palmer had an even later start to FP2 compared to Massa after he returned an hour into the session after his FP1 crash. The Briton improved on his morning session to go nineteenth fastest with a time of 1:17.761 ahead of the second Sauber of Felipe Nasr. Rio Haryanto had an eventful session after he crashed out of the session, only completing ten laps for Manor Racing.
Leading up to the chicane, Haryanto lost the rear, managed to avoid the outside barrier but then became a passenger after the car span. Even with this incident, team-mate Pascal Wehrlein was unable to set a lap time faster, leading to him finishing the session in twenty-second with a time of 1:18.814.
Monaco Grand Prix Free Practice 2 Times
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