Mercedes reign supreme in FP2 with Bottas-led one-two

Mercedes have flexed their muscles in FP2 with a Valtteri Bottas-led one two for the German team, with the Finn edging out Lewis Hamilton by a minimal margin to lead the rest of the field at Interlagos.

Bottas was just three-thousandths of a second quicker than Hamilton, with both Mercedes cars getting into the 1:08,8's, something no other team could replicate.

The Finn already has the official track record at Interlagos, which he gained last season during qualifying when he took pole position.

Sebastian Vettel was third-quickest in FP2, with the German beating both Red Bulls and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen to take P3.

Just over ten minutes into the session, the red flag was waved. Nico Hülkenberg, who typically does so well at Interlagos, made a big mistake as he went on the grass exiting the final corner. He couldn't steer his Renault back on the track in time, meaning he smashed into the wall, breaking the entire right side of his Renault. The red flag was waved so the marshalls could clean up the track more quickly.

When the cars were allowed back on the track, Ferrari took control. They took a one-two early-on, with Raikkonen edging Vettel to lead the field.

Mercedes were having none of it, though, taking a one-two of their own after Daniel Ricciardo briefly took P1 from the Ferrari's. Bottas led Lewis Hamilton, with both drivers dipping into the 1;08,8's for their lap times. Vettel was pushed down to third, but he stayed there.

Behind those three were the two Red Bulls, with Ricciardo, who has received a five-place grid penalty for the weekend, manning P4 and Max Verstappen ending fifth. It took Verstappen half of the session to even get out of his garage for an installation lap, and he only put in a handful of hot-laps. Raikkonen rounded out the Big Three team-drivers in sixth place.

Down the field, Haas left a good impression. The Americans were best of the rest as Romain Grosjean finished in P7, and Kevin Magnussen was in P9. With Sainz in P14 and Hülkenberg crashing his car, that's a positive result for them.

In P8, wedged between the Haas cars, was the Sauber of rookie Charles Leclerc, who once again showed terrific pace to end up as high as he did. He was six-tenths quicker than teammate Marcus Ericsson, who was down in P15.