Brazilian GP: Nico Rosberg heads Lewis Hamilton in F1 practice two

The German clocked a 1m12.385s on the soft Pirelli compound, 0.458 seconds clear of Hamilton, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel half-a-second further back.

Spits of rain fell throughout the session and though the track was slippery in parts, the warm conditions meant it was not damp enough for intermediates.

There was a flurry of activity at first, with everyone heading out promptly in case the rain intensified.

Hamilton, fastest in first practice, set the pace early on when the medium compound was in use, 0.136s clear of Rosberg.

Valtteri Bottas was the first to switch to the softs and went quickest by 0.031s, Pirelli suggesting there is around a one-second difference between the two compounds.

A number of other drivers headed out on the softs but had to abort their runs when the session was red-flagged to recover Fernando Alonso's stricken McLaren-Honda.

The double world champion spun at the Descida do Lago left-hander and then pulled off track a few corners later with smoke pouring from the rear of his car.

The session restarted 10 minutes later, with Rosberg pumping in his pacesetting time on a single-lap outing.

Attention then turned to long runs ahead of Sunday's race.

Hamilton and Rosberg were closely matched on their long run on the softs, before swapping to the mediums for the final 10 minutes.

Kimi Raikkonen was fourth quickest for Ferrari, 1.115s off the pace, ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who is running Renault's latest spec engine and will take a 10-place grid penalty due to the resultant component changes.

Bottas was sixth, having had a spin at Pinheirinho during a long run on the mediums, ahead of Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg.

Daniil Kvyat, running the old-spec Renault power unit in his Red Bull, and Felipe Massa completed the top 10.

Sergio Perez was three tenths slower than Force India team-mate Hulkenberg in 11th, ahead of Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Nasr.

The Toro Rossos of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were 14th and 15th, followed by Jenson Button, who was 2.259s off the pace in the second McLaren.

Marcus Ericsson, Alonso and the Manor-run Marussias of Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi completed the timesheet.

PRACTICE TWO TIMES: