The two leaders of the championship, Sebastien Buemi and Lucas Di Grassi, show the way to the field for FP2.
The session starts with 17 drivers on track and only three minutes after the start, Lucas Di Grassi hits the wall after a spin, causing the first yellow flag of the session. He eventually brings his car back to the pits.
Five minutes after the start, Frijns claims the fastest lap after his first full power lap in front of Buemi and Conway. It is only at mid-session that Di Grassi can overtake him with a 1:09:3 lap, 0.6s faster than Bird’s lap time earlier this morning. Da Costa also does a good job with a 1:09.9 lap which makes it provisional second faster.
After Di Grassi, it’s Sarrazin who hits the wall after a mistake in a corner. With no damages on the car, he can go again which is not Frijns’ case who stops at the same place than this morning.
With seven minutes left, the two e.DAMS drivers go for their full power lap which allows Buemi to take the lead, being faster than his pole position time of last year despite the modifications on the circuit.
Here is the top 10 of the second free practice session:
Buemi (1:08.7), Di Grassi (+0.5), Prost (+0.5), Bird (+0.7), Da Costa (+0.7), D’Ambrosio (+0.9), Sarrazin (+1.0), Piquet (+1.3), Conway (+1.5), Duval (+1.5)
Let’s note Jean-Eric Vergne presence in the paddock after feeling unwell this morning. He however did not run in FP2.
Here are the qualifying groups:
Group 1: Sam Bird, Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway, Nick Heidfeld, Jean-Eric Vergne (?)
Group 2: Loïc Duval, Nico Prost, Sébastien Buemi, Simona De Silvestro, Daniel Abt
Group 3: Nelson Piquet Jr, Bruno Senna, Robin Frijns, Salvador Duran
Group 4: Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Lucas Di Grassi, Antonio Felix Da Costa, Oliver Turvey