Hamilton stays in charge in second practice

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton stayed on top of the time sheets in free practice 2 of the 2017 Austrian Grand Prix.

Hamilton set a time of 1:05.483s early in FP2, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel second-fastest ahead of Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas. It was another good showing from Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in fourth and fifth, but both Red Bulls also experienced some technical gremlins during the afternoon.

With a threat of rain hanging over the Red Bull Ring, the drivers were quick to get back out on track after their lunch break. Bottas was soon top of the timings with a lap of 1:05.700s, putting him ahead of Hamilton and Vettel. All three were initially on supersofts, with Ricciardo slotting into fourth on ultras.

Much as they had in FP1, drivers continued to have an interesting time exploring the limits of the 10-turn circuit. Sauber's Marcus Ericsson ran too deep into turn 1 on his first flier and at least once more thereafter. He also ended up in the gravel in turn 6, while Sergio Perez also lost the rear of the Force India and went for a couple of spins in turn 3 and 4 during the session.

After switching to the ultrasoft compound, Bottas wasted a very promising flying lap when he slid wide in turn 9. He then understeered off into the gravel in turn 6 moments later, ending in a gentle spin as he kept it out of the wall. That excursion allowed Vettel to take over the top spot with a new benchmark of 1:05.630s, having also switched to ultras.

• Hamilton tops first Austrian GP free practice

Hamilton had done likewise and soon went 0.147s faster than the Ferrari, despite later complaining of "a big problem at turn 3." The team diagnosed the need for a spark plug change, which was quickly completed allowing the Briton to get back to work.

Max Verstappen lost the first half hour of the session while the team worked on addressing a brake issue on the Red Bull. He was quickly on the pace when he finally got out on track, and soon slotted into fourth ahead of Ricciardo and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. An even more aggressive follow-up lap saw the Dutch teen run wide in the last corner and kick up grass and dirt as he rejoined.

Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz had an even more lurid moment, sliding off at the preceding corner and bouncing across the grass before rejoining. Although he kept if off the barrier, the jolting caused damage to the underside of the car, including a fluid leak that ended his session early. There were also problems for Daniil Kvyat who reported a loss of power and hour into the session and then a big brake fire on his STR12 in the final ten minutes.

Renault spent an extended period addressing an issue at the back of Jolyon Palmer's car, sidelining the Briton after only seven laps. Ricciardo's day also ended early with a turbo problem on the RB13. Floor damage to the McLaren delayed Fernando Alonso from making an early appearance in FP2, but he was swiftly into the top ten once he got out. He then went for a spin in turns 6 and 7 in the final minutes of the session.

Romain Grosjean avoided damage to his Haas despite going for a rather wild ride over the kerbs in turns 9 and 10. Williams' Felipe Massa was also rather unhappy, complaining that "the tyres are just terrible in the high-speed, it's unbelievable!"

Another off for Ericsson - this time at the exit of turn 4 - came amid reports from drivers of light drops of rain encroaching into parts of the circuit. Fortunately the precipitation never amounted to anything serious and teams were able to complete their distance running before the chequered flag called time.

Free Practice 2 results

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