Lewis Hamilton stayed on top in the second practice session at the Circuit of the Americas but his championship rival was delayed by a technical problem.
Sebastian Vettel had to interrupt his race stint simulation at the end of practice after reporting “something weird with the front axle”. He told his team it “feels a bit like jelly in the front” as he headed into the pits for an inspection. Vettel returned to the track shortly before the end of the session.
The Ferrari driver ended the day third-quickest, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull separating him from Hamilton at the top of the times sheets. Behind Vettel came Bottas, who was over six tenths of a second slower than his team mate.
Behind Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso put his McLaren ‘best of the rest’ in seventh having enjoyed a more productive second outing. He was followed by Felipe Massa and the two Force Indias.
Daniil Kvyat was the quicker of the two Toro Rosso drivers in his first session back in the car. Newcomer Brendon Hartley was over a second off his team mate’s time when he made his first attempt on ultra-soft tyres.
Romain Grosjean ended an unhappy session in last place. He had complained about his team mate’s driving earlier on in practice and was unhappy with his car’s balance.
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’34.668 | 26 | |
2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’35.065 | 0.397 | 30 |
3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’35.192 | 0.524 | 11 |
4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’35.279 | 0.611 | 39 |
5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’35.463 | 0.795 | 24 |
6 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’35.514 | 0.846 | 29 |
7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’36.304 | 1.636 | 28 |
8 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.460 | 1.792 | 30 |
9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’36.481 | 1.813 | 28 |
10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1’36.490 | 1.822 | 34 |
11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’36.529 | 1.861 | 30 |
12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’36.534 | 1.866 | 18 |
13 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’36.761 | 2.093 | 40 |
14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’37.285 | 2.617 | 17 |
15 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Honda | 1’37.463 | 2.795 | 31 |
16 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1’37.788 | 3.120 | 27 |
17 | 39 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’37.987 | 3.319 | 41 |
18 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’38.165 | 3.497 | 35 |
19 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’38.262 | 3.594 | 22 |
20 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’38.387 | 3.719 | 26 |
Second practice visual gaps
Lewis Hamilton – 1’34.668
+0.397 Max Verstappen – 1’35.065
+0.524 Sebastian Vettel – 1’35.192
+0.611 Valtteri Bottas – 1’35.279
+0.795 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’35.463
+0.846 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’35.514
+1.636 Fernando Alonso – 1’36.304
+1.792 Felipe Massa – 1’36.460
+1.813 Sergio Perez – 1’36.481
+1.822 Esteban Ocon – 1’36.490
+1.861 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’36.529
+1.866 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’36.534
+2.093 Daniil Kvyat – 1’36.761
+2.617 Kevin Magnussen – 1’37.285
+2.795 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’37.463
+3.120 Lance Stroll – 1’37.788
+3.319 Brendon Hartley – 1’37.987
+3.497 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’38.165
+3.594 Marcus Ericsson – 1’38.262
+3.719 Romain Grosjean – 1’38.387
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
Driver | Team | Best ultra-soft time | Ultra-soft gap | Best super-soft time | Super-soft gap | Best soft time | Soft gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’34.668 | None | 1’36.534 | 0.206 | ||
Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’35.279 | 0.611 | 1’36.817 | 0.701 | None | |
Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’35.463 | 0.795 | 1’36.116 | None | ||
Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’35.065 | 0.397 | None | 1’36.328 | ||
Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’35.192 | 0.524 | None | 2’01.634 | 25.306 | |
Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’35.514 | 0.846 | 1’36.667 | 0.551 | None | |
Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’36.481 | 1.813 | 1’37.034 | 0.918 | None | |
Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1’36.490 | 1.822 | 1’37.509 | 1.393 | None | |
Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’36.460 | 1.792 | None | 1’38.340 | 2.012 | |
Lance Stroll | Williams | 1’37.788 | 3.12 | 1’38.534 | 2.418 | None | |
Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1’36.304 | 1.636 | None | 1’37.666 | 1.338 | |
Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1’37.463 | 2.795 | 1’37.535 | 1.419 | None | |
Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1’36.761 | 2.093 | None | 1’38.119 | 1.791 | |
Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | 1’37.987 | 3.319 | 1’39.188 | 3.072 | None | |
Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’38.749 | 4.081 | 1’38.387 | 2.271 | None | |
Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1’37.285 | 2.617 | None | 1’44.062 | 7.734 | |
Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’36.534 | 1.866 | None | 1’38.246 | 1.918 | |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’36.529 | 1.861 | 1’38.143 | 2.027 | None | |
Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’38.262 | 3.594 | 1’39.203 | 3.087 | None | |
Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1’38.165 | 3.497 | None | 1’39.465 | 3.137 |
2017 United States Grand Prix
- 2017 United States Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- 2017 United States Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2017 United States Grand Prix Star Performers
- Hamilton only needs fifth – but we’ve heard that before…
- “Can you tell Esteban to let me by?”: US GP team radio highlights
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
20th October 2017, 22:24
There’s only one new Renault R.E.17G spec for each team this year and it goes to Hartley, Hulkenberg & Verstappen.
It’s not gonna matter much in Toro Rosso intra team battle it seem, but friday practice result doesn’t look good for Hulkenberg.
Since Max only start using it tomorrow, we can only hope that Renault new spec really can challenge Merc on merit in qualification. Second hard blow to Ricciardo after Horner said that RedBull gonna build the team around Verstappen.
Baron (@baron)
21st October 2017, 15:17
“Second hard blow to Ricciardo after Horner said that RedBull gonna build the team around Verstappen.”
Where/when was that stated?
Baron (@baron)
21st October 2017, 15:18
Sorry, that question directed at @ruliemaulana
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
21st October 2017, 19:26
@baron Horner said that last week:
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/132400/verstappen-should-build-red-bull-around-him
Baron (@baron)
21st October 2017, 19:39
That’s not what he said at all! I realise that English may not be your first language but subtle changes in words can change the meaning dramatically. What he said was “Max Verstappen should stay at the Red Bull Formula 1 team long term and build it around him,” reckons team principal Christian Horner.
That’s a whole lot different from saying that Red Bull ARE going to build the team around him (Verstappen). Horner means that Verstappen should himself push to get the team to back him. He can only do that by bringing results. Thats how it works in F1.
John H (@john-h)
20th October 2017, 23:49
Funny that by not racing this year Rosberg is doing his reputation more good than harm. Bottas is having an absolute mere these past races.
Blazzz
21st October 2017, 0:15
I agree. With Hamilton sorting out his starts and equal reliability I just can’t see how Rosberg would have defeated Hamilton this season.
Bottas’ performances really put into perspective how good Rosberg actually was. Quick over a single lap and on his day he had the measure of Lewis. That simply hasn’t happened often enough for Bottas this season.
With Lewis getting a handle on the “Diva” we are seeing a massive and consistent gap to Bottas of approx half a second. Lauda once said “Lewis has a tenth or two on Nico” but with Bottas the gap is wider.
Simply put- Rosberg > Bottas.
F Truth (@)
21st October 2017, 1:02
Unfortunately after a few moments of brilliance earlier in the season, this form is more what I expected from Bottas. He didn’t have much margin on Massa who is bang average these days so, yeh, this is why the choice for the most coveted seat on the grid was a little disappointing.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
21st October 2017, 2:06
@john-h Consider that this car was not designed around Bottas in any way. He basically jumped to Rosberg seat with weeks to spare before Australia. It was always going to be a transitioning year for him.
He did very well at the beginning of the year, and was even catching Hamilton up in the WDC until Lewis got that hattrick after the Summer break.
Besides, Nico was good anyway, it just happened that Lewis was better. And that’s not bad because Lewis is an all-time great.
Aldoid
21st October 2017, 2:33
Yeah, I’d lighten up on Valtteri. Nico actually won two races to Hamilton’s one the first year they were paired together (although Lewis outscored him 189-171, but I also believe Nico had 3 DNFs to Lewis’ 1). It wasn’t until Hamilton actually had input in the next year’s car did he outshine Rosberg comprehensively… & then when Mercedes made changes to the front suspension that more suited Rosberg’s driving style mid 2016, the pendulum swung towards him again (that & the start/clutch paddle changes caught Lewis out on many occasions). I’m sure next year Bottas will be better able to mount a stronger challenge. He’s doing a damn good job, IMO. Lewis is a tough teammate, & the Ferrari cars have been the better cars on Sunday quite often.
Kgn11
21st October 2017, 2:59
“I’m sure next year Bottas will be better able to mount a stronger challenge.“
You’re hoping for a lot.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
21st October 2017, 10:34
One of those wins for Rosberg is where Hamilton was in the lead and his tyre exploded. So teh fact that Rosberg was gifted that win doesn’t really say much.
Aldoid
21st October 2017, 10:41
Oh, yeah… I’d forgotten it was that year Lewis suffered the Silverstone blowout. Good job remembering that.
Baron (@baron)
21st October 2017, 12:16
I suppose I should get out more but I couldn’t help notice that Alonso’s Honda was in front of 4 Mercedes, 4 Renaults and 4 Ferrari’s. You sure you wanna switch next year McLaren? (Yeah, I know it’s only practice :) )