Mercedes maintained its position at the front of the field as Lewis Hamilton again led team-mate Valtteri Bottas during the second practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Though neither Hamilton nor Bottas went faster than their respective FP1 times, they still set quick enough laps to finish at the head of the pack.
On the Supersoft tyres, Hamilton finished with a time of 1:09.515, 0.058s clear of Bottas, as the chasing pack again lapped in the 1:09.7s and 1:09.8s.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who has been hit with a 10-place grid penalty due a power unit element change, finished as Mercedes’ primary opponent, 0.228s behind Hamilton.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was a tenth of a second further back in fourth position, just 0.011s in front of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, while Kimi Räikkönen finished slightly adrift in sixth place.
Esteban Ocon spearheaded the midfield group for Force India, 0.791s behind Hamilton, with less than a tenth of a second covering Williams’ Felipe Massa and Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg.
Fernando Alonso, having been briefly sidelined by a small power unit issue, completed the top 10 for McLaren.
Carlos Sainz Jr. finished 11th for Renault, as Sergio Pérez placed 12th, having sat out the opening session while Mercedes-backed George Russell made his Grand Prix weekend debut.
Stoffel Vandoorne and Romain Grosjean both suffered spins, at the Senna S and Descida do Lago respectively, en route to 13th and 15th places, sandwiching Williams’ Lance Stroll.
After its first session was compromised by engine issues, Toro Rosso racked up more mileage, with Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley 16th and 17th.
However, Gasly’s grid penalty is now up to 25 places, after Toro Rosso was forced to fit new elements in the wake of his MGU-H failure in the opening session.
Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein was 18th, ahead of team-mate Marcus Ericsson, who compromised his session when he spun through Mergulho, making light contact with the barriers.
Antonio Giovinazzi and Kevin Magnussen swapped Friday sessions, with the Ferrari reserve running in FP2 as opposed to FP1, though finished at the foot of the times, his best lap coming on Softs.
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