Kvyat heads Raikkonen in competitive FP2

Daniil Kvyat set the fastest time of second practice for the Singapore Grand Prix as Mercedes found itself under pressure from a number of teams.

With both Mercedes drivers aborting their first flying laps on supersoft tyres during the low fuel runs, Kimi Raikkonen initially set the pace before he was pipped by Kvyat on a 1:46.142. The Red Bull driver ended the session 0.039s clear of Raikkonen, with Daniel Ricciardo third quickest, 0.114s slower than his team-mate.

Lewis Hamilton could only post the fourth fastest time after running wide at Turn 1 on his first attempt, ending the session 0.337s adrift of Kvyat and just 0.008s ahead of Sebastian Vettel in fifth place. Vettel also showed encouraging long run pace in the second half of the session as Ferrari looked a threat to Mercedes in race trim.

Sergio Perez was sixth for Force India, half a second off the fastest time and over 0.1s ahead of Nico Rosberg. Rosberg had been more than a quarter of a second clear of the field in the opening session but was down in seventh place in FP2 and less than 0.2s ahead of Fernando Alonso in the McLaren.

Alonso was the last driver within a second of the fastest time, but will have been encouraged to be so competitive on the street circuit as McLaren goes in search of its first points since the Hungarian Grand Prix in July.

Lotus struggled for one lap pace during the session, with Romain Grosjean down in 16th and Pastor Maldonado in 18th. It was another difficult session for Manor, too, as one of its cars caused a red flag for the second time on Friday.

With Alexander Rossi crashing towards the end of FP1, this time it was Will Stevens who made an error as he lost the rear of is car at Turn 11 and slide sideways in to the barrier. His car was not as heavily damaged as Rossi’s had been but the error came early in the session and ruled him out of any further running after just three laps.

Rossi did emerge late in FP2 after his accident in the first session, completing nine laps as he seeks more track time ahead of his first grand prix.

AS IT HAPPENED: Singapore Grand Prix FP2

2016 F1 driver line-ups so far

Click here for some of the most memorable crashes at Singapore

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