SM
Man City vs. Brighton: 8 hrs 39 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Title-chasing Lewis Hamilton fastest in second practice for US Grand Prix

:Headline: Title-chasing Lewis Hamilton fastest in second practice for US Grand Prix: ID:377118: from db_amp
The Mercedes driver is expected to clinch his sixth world title this weekend.

Champion-elect Lewis Hamilton finished fastest in second practice for the United States Grand Prix.

The British driver, who is set to win his sixth world title in Austin on Sunday, ended the day's final running leading the way from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen finished third.

Hamilton will clinch this season's championship if he finishes at least eighth on Sunday. Valtteri Bottas, fifth fastest in practice here, must win to stand any chance of taking the title fight on to the penultimate round in Brazil.

Lewis Hamilton showed his pace in second practice (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Hamilton, boosted by the return of his long-standing race engineer Pete Bonnington following illness, has won on five of his previous seven visits to Austin.

And on the evidence of practice, the Mercedes driver appears in a strong position to see out the championship in style.

Mercedes underplayed their hand in the opening running on Friday – Hamilton finished only eighth – but the Briton ended the day three tenths clear of Leclerc.

Verstappen finished 0.315 sec down on Hamilton, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel – who slid backwards through the gravel trap at the right-handed turn 14 – fourth, 0.658 sec off the pace.

Bottas finished the best part of eight tenths down on his Mercedes team-mate. Red Bull driver Alex Albon was sixth.

Romain Grosjean's early crash brought a temporary halt to the afternoon running.

The French driver lost control of his Haas through the high-speed Esses with just 10 minutes on the clock.

Grosjean ended up in the barriers, damaging the front end of his car. He emerged unscathed from the accident, but the red flags were swiftly deployed to deal with his wounded machine. The action was suspended for almost 10 minutes.

British rookie Lando Norris ended the session in 14th, six places behind his McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz.

George Russell made way for Canadian reserve driver Nicholas Latifi in the first session here, but returned later in the day to occupy his familiar 19th position, half-a-second faster than Robert Kubica in the sister Williams.

amp_article__377118 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2019-11-01 22:29:52:
html db last update - 2019-11-01 22:29:52 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Lewis Hamilton

Click here for more stories about Ferrari

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool29217169274270
2Arsenal281510352242855
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest28156745331251
4Chelsea28147753361749
5Manchester CityMan City28145953381547
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2814594738947
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton28121064640646
8Aston Villa2912984145-445
9Bournemouth28128847341344
10Fulham2811984138342
11Crystal Palace2810993633339
12Brentford28115124844438
13Tottenham HotspurSpurs281041455411434
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd2897123440-634
15Everton2871293135-433
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2896133248-1633
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2865173857-1923
18Ipswich TownIpswich2838172658-3217
19Leicester CityLeicester2845192562-3717
20Southampton2823232068-489
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .