Who led the timesheets for FP2 of the F1 Brazil Grand Prix 2021?

Alpine driver Fernando Alonso topped the time-sheets for the second free practice of the Brazil Grand Prix. The Spaniard was followed by Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas who were second and third fastest. Alonso topped a session for the first time since 2017 and a practice session for the first time since 2014.

Due to the sprint format and extreme track evolution on the unused Interlagos Circuit, the session was fairly unrepresentative of the true pace of any team. The second practice session of the Brazil Grand Prix witnessed teams test out several different simulations.

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon clocked the fourth fastest lap of the session, followed by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who was fifth fastest. Red Bull F1 driver Sergio Perez clocked the sixth fastest time.

Alfa Romeo drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen clocked the seventh and tenth fastest time of the session. Sandwiched between the two Alfa Romeos were the Ferrari drivers who clocked the eighth and ninth fastest times in the second practice of the Brazil Grand Prix.

All the teams were on different programs, with some attempting long-run simulations on heavier fuel loads and some working on sprint simulations while keeping on lower fuel loads. Although Alonso was 0.864 seconds quicker than Verstappen, the pace comparison was unrepresentative and not likely to translate to the actual race.

Mercedes and Red Bull F1 drivers both spent most of the session evaluating their long-running performances over the entire race distance. Since track tempratures were warmer than the previous day, Red Bull Racing looked slightly more comfortable than the Mercedes around the Interlagos Circuit.

Overall, it was a fairly inconclusive Brazil Grand Prix practice session; one of the pitfalls of the sprint race format for the weekend.

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Full results from FP2 at F1 Brazil Grand Prix 2021

The following are the entire results from the second free practice of the Brazil Grand Prix:

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1	14	Fernando Alonso	ALPINE RENAULT	1:11.238		23
2	33	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA	1:12.102	+0.864s	26
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	MERCEDES	1:12.355	+1.117s	24
4	31	Esteban Ocon	ALPINE RENAULT	1:12.407	+1.169s	26
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	1:12.741	+1.503s	25
6	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA	1:12.903	+1.665s	29
7	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	1:12.997	+1.759s	37
8	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	1:13.078	+1.840s	31
9	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	1:13.099	+1.861s	33
10	7	Kimi Räikkönen	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	1:13.355	+2.117s	39
11	18	Lance Stroll	ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES	1:13.426	+2.188s	41
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	MCLAREN MERCEDES	1:13.448	+2.210s	25
13	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	1:13.581	+2.343s	23
14	10	Pierre Gasly	ALPHATAURI HONDA	1:13.608	+2.370s	32
15	63	George Russell	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:13.615	+2.377s	24
16	22	Yuki Tsunoda	ALPHATAURI HONDA	1:13.726	+2.488s	38
17	5	Sebastian Vettel	ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES	1:13.747	+2.509s	42
18	6	Nicholas Latifi	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:14.025	+2.787s	24
19	47	Mick Schumacher	HAAS FERRARI	1:14.066	+2.828s	40
20	9	Nikita Mazepin	HAAS FERRARI	1:14.909	+3.671s	37