Kvyat surprises with fastest lap in FP2

Sep 18, 2015
2 min read

Having hinted at strong pace in FP1, Red Bull threw down a marker to the rest of the field as Daniil Kvyat set the fastest lap as the floodlights came on in Singapore. Team mate Daniel Ricciardo was 3rd, but encountered traffic on his hot lap. Kvyat’s lap was also compromised, as it was set on slightly older tyres.

Kimi Raikkonen looked to have the measure of his team mate in 2nd, three tenths clear of Sebastian Vettel in 5th and just four hundredths of a second away from Kvyat’s time. Their pace on the supersoft appeared to be better than that of the Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton only 4th and three tenths off the pace, and Nico Rosberg 7th a further three tenths back.

There was a significant difference between the two Mercedes drivers on their long runs also. Hamilton was approximately a second a lap faster than his team mate. Red Bull and Ferrari were doing similar lap times to Hamilton.

This is the only practice session that takes place under the floodlights – the same conditions as qualifying and the race. Therefore, this session is a better indication of each team’s pace.

Fernando Alonso was 8th and just eight tenths off the pace, showing that McLaren could be potential top 10 runners during the race. He was ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in 9th and Max Verstappen in 10th, who both made it into the top 10 for the second time today and were separated by just over a tenth.

Will Stevens gave Manor a second car to repair after he hit the wall at the start of the session, in a crash that looked very similar to that of his team mate Alexander Rossi in FP1, this time at turn 11. The team did indeed manage to repair the American’s car and get him out for the final 20 minutes of the session.

Final classification