2015 F1 Round 8, Austrian Grand Prix FP2: Vettel leads Rosberg by 0.011 seconds as both Ferraris finish in the top three

Vettel topped second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix on the afternoon of June 19 with a 1m09.600s lap, just 0.011 seconds ahead of Rosberg. Räikkönen was third, putting both Ferraris in the top three.

Hamilton briefly topped the timesheets during the early running on soft tyres, with Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel and Räikkönen closely matched. The teams then switched to supersoft tyres for quick laps, and Vettel set the fastest lap of the session.

Rosberg posted a 1m09.611s lap and completed 50 laps, the highest mileage among the leading drivers. Räikkönen’s best lap was 1m09.860s, leaving him 0.260 seconds behind Vettel.

Vettel slowed with a suspected gearbox problem in the final half-hour of practice and returned to the pits. Räikkönen flat-spotted his only set of supersoft tyres and was unable to complete a long run on that set.

Maldonado took fourth for Lotus, with Hamilton fifth. Hülkenberg was sixth, Grosjean seventh and Verstappen eighth, while Nasr and Pérez finished ninth and tenth respectively.

Sainz was 11th, Kvyat 12th and Ericsson 13th. The two Williams cars were only 14th and 15th on the timesheets, with Bottas ahead of team-mate Massa, although their long-run pace remained a focus of attention.

Alonso was 16th, Ricciardo 17th and Button 18th. The two McLarens completed a combined total of 34 laps; Alonso briefly tried the team’s aerodynamic upgrades, including its new short nose.

Stevens and Merhi occupied the final two positions. Merhi went into the gravel at Turn 3, briefly bringing out yellow flags; all 20 drivers recorded a timed lap in the session’s official classification.