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US GP practice: Nico Rosberg fastest ahead of Daniel Ricciardo

Nico Rosberg set the pace in second practice for Formula 1's United States Grand Prix, but Daniel Ricciardo resisted Lewis Hamilton and prevented a Mercedes one-two

In a reversal of form from the morning session, championship leader Rosberg lapped nearly three tenths quicker than F1 title rival Hamilton during their qualifying simulations on the super-soft Pirelli tyre.

But Ricciardo sprang a surprise by splitting the pair with a 1m37.552s effort that placed his Red Bull within two tenths of a second of the leading Mercedes.

Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest for Ferrari, over half a second adrift of Hamilton.

Max Verstappen was fifth in the second Red Bull, while Force India pair Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, and McLaren-Honda duo Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, all lapped faster than Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, which rounded out the top 10.

Raikkonen complained about the handling of the rear end of his Ferrari, and went off during his qualifying simulation, so had to rely on a second effort completed on the same set of tyres, which was only fractionally quicker than he managed on the soft compound early in the session.

Carlos Sainz Jr was the last man to lap below 1m39s, ending up 11th quickest in the underpowered Toro Rosso.

Kevin Magnussen and Felipe Nasr also impressed, lapping 12th and 13th quickest for Renault and Sauber respectively.

That put them clear of Williams pairing Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, who were split by the second Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat.

Haas endured another difficult session at its home race, with Romain Grosjean only 18th fastest and team-mate Esteban Gutierrez 20th, behind Esteban Ocon's Manor, which recovered well after an early spin into the gravel at Turn 17.

Grosjean complained that he could "barely drive the car", struggling particularly with the front end of his Haas.

Marcus Ericsson was 21st, over a second slower than team-mate Nasr, while Pascal Wehrlein ended up slowest of all runners, complaining of too much understeer in his Manor.

He returned to the track later and set improved times in the first and second sectors, but failed to complete the lap on each occasion so remained rooted to the bottom of the timesheet.

There was a brief red flag interruption just as the higher fuel long runs began, so marshals could clear some debris that fell from one of the Haas cars through the high-speed esses.

Gutierrez's car appeared to shed more bits later on through the same section of the circuit, something that also occurred during a troubled morning session for the Haas team.

PRACTICE TWO TIMES:

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m37.358s - 33
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m37.552s 0.194s 33
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m37.649s 0.291s 32
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m38.178s 0.820s 35
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m38.258s 0.900s 27
6 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m38.508s 1.150s 32
7 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m38.568s 1.210s 31
8 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1m38.713s 1.355s 29
9 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m38.801s 1.443s 30
10 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m38.865s 1.507s 31
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m38.971s 1.613s 31
12 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1m39.159s 1.801s 23
13 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1m39.189s 1.831s 28
14 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1m39.197s 1.839s 34
15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m39.202s 1.844s 36
16 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m39.281s 1.923s 30
17 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m39.455s 2.097s 34
18 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m39.554s 2.196s 24
19 Esteban Ocon Manor/Mercedes 1m40.086s 2.728s 27
20 Esteban Gutierrez Haas/Ferrari 1m40.114s 2.756s 26
21 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m40.219s 2.861s 28
22 Pascal Wehrlein Manor/Mercedes 1m41.131s 3.773s 31


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