2015 F1 Round 15 Russian Grand Prix FP2 – Massa leads rain-hit session with just eight drivers setting times

Heavy rain affected second practice for the Russian Grand Prix on the afternoon of October 9. Massa set the fastest lap of 2:00.458, with Vettel second, 0.201 seconds behind, and Bottas third.

Standing water covered several parts of the circuit. Drivers remained in their garages for much of the session, with timed laps gradually appearing only in the second half.

Vettel was the first to venture out, while Alonso subsequently became the first driver to set a lap time. As conditions improved slightly, Verstappen, Bottas and Vettel took turns at the top.

In the closing stages, Massa moved ahead of Vettel and teammate Bottas to put Williams first and third. Verstappen was fourth and Alonso fifth.

Home driver Kvyat finished sixth, Sainz seventh and Button eighth. These were the only eight drivers to record valid lap times during the session.

Räikkönen, Grosjean, Maldonado, Nasr, Stevens and Merhi did not leave their garages, so they were absent from the official FP2 classification of 14 drivers who took to the track.

The other six drivers who went out did not set valid lap times, including Hülkenberg, Rosberg and Hamilton. Their participation was recorded in the official classification, with no comparable lap times.

Morning practice had been shortened by track cleaning, and rain then restricted the afternoon session. After the two sessions, teams were left with clearly limited time for dry-weather setup work and race preparation.