EL2 in Austin: Hamilton king of the rain, Gasly 2nd

Lewis Hamilton continues his momentum by dominating a second free session of the United States Grand Prix once again disrupted by rain.

Published on 19/10/2018 à 22:44

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EL2 in Austin: Hamilton king of the rain, Gasly 2nd

The championship leader, who can claim a 5th world crown this weekend, will have waited the entire session to set a time but his single attempt was enough to make everyone agree.

With a time of 1’48”716, Hamilton precedes a surprising Pierre Gasly, which places its Toro Rosso with a Honda engine, one second behind the Briton. It’s a shame that the Frenchman will have to start from the back of the grid on Sunday due to yet another engine change.

The Frenchman takes his future teammate in his wake at Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, the next Dutchman 70 thousandths behind the best ranked RB14. Fernando Alonso hoist his modest McLaren in 4th place, however more than three seconds behind the reference established by Hamilton.

Nico Hulkenberg completes a Top 5 with a unique taste. The pilot Renault precede Brendon Hartley, who left his place to Sean Gelael at Toro Rosso this Friday morning, Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), and Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren).

The Ferrari by Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel do not look particularly lively in the rain and have to settle for 9th and 10th fastest times. The German even finished more than five seconds behind his rival for the title.

Only 15 drivers set a time during this second free session, which saw no cars on track before mid-session due to the heavy showers that fell on the Circuit of the Americas during the opening day.

The weather conditions look just as uncertain on Saturday for the third free session, which will start at 13:00 p.m. (20:00 p.m. in France), and the qualifications, which will kick off at 16:00 p.m. (23:00 p.m. in France). Enough to offer a surprising starting grid? Response tomorrow evening with our live text on CARhebdo.fr.