The teams also had the new 2014 Pirelli development tyres available, but the weather conditions meant that they did not get the chance to drive on them. Again, only Vettel went out to do one lap on the prototype tyres. However, with more rain expected for the rest of the weekend, all the wet weather practice today was extremely useful.
The fastest time of the day was set by Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg early in FP1 on the Cinturato Green intermediate: 1:24.781s. Rosberg was quickest for most of FP2 as well, having set a benchmark time on the Cinturato Blue, before being usurped by Vettel on an intermediate tyre run. However, Rosberg managed to take fastest time back right at the end of FP2 with his own final run on intermediate tyres, thanks to a lap in 1:27.306s. The rain eased off slightly at the end of FP2, with Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez the only driver not to switch to the intermediate by the end of the session. Most of the drivers used just one set of intermediates and wets throughout the day, even though the regulations allow for an extra set of intermediates if the Friday sessions are wet.
FIRST FREE PRACTICE
P. Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1:24.781 14 2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1:25.230 + 0.449 13 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:25.387 + 0.606 17 4. Jenson Button McLaren 1:25.391 + 0.610 25 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:25.593 + 0.812 13 6. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:25.797 + 1.016 17 7. Sergio Perez McLaren 1:25.946 + 1.165 15 8. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:26.064 + 1.283 17 9. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 1:26.135 + 1.352 31 10. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:26.232 + 1.451 17 11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:26.248 + 1.467 15 12. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:26.326 + 1.545 28 13. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:26.570 + 1.789 28 14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:26.593 + 1.812 22 15. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:27.115 + 2.334 25 16. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:27.269 + 2.488 23 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:27.358 + 2.577 23 18. James Calado Force India 1:27.436 + 2.655 9 19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:28.107 + 3.326 18 20. Charles Pic Caterham 1:28.199 + 3.418 17 21. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:30.004 + 5.223 24 22. Rodolfo Gonzalez Marussia 1:32.646 + 7.865 19SECOND FREE PRACTICE
P. Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1:27.306 12 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:27.531 + 0.225 10 3. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:27.592 + 0.286 18 4. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 1:28.129 + 0.823 13 5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1:28.147 + 0.841 9 6. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:28.405 + 1.099 11 7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:28.540 + 1.234 9 8. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:28.560 + 1.254 20 9. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:28.739 + 1.433 20 10. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:28.891 + 1.585 12 11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:28.928 + 1.622 10 12. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:29.049 + 1.743 17 13. Paul di Resta Force India 1:29.174 + 1.868 11 14. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:29.717 + 2.411 13 15. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:29.783 + 2.477 7 16. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:30.425 + 3.119 15 17. Sergio Perez McLaren 1:30.748 + 3.442 8 18. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:31.061 + 3.755 18 19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:31.118 + 3.812 16 20. Charles Pic Caterham 1:31.165 + 3.859 15 21. Max Chilton Marussia 1:31.211 + 3.905 19 22. Jenson Button McLaren 1:31.770 + 4.464 6
