Nico Rosberg heads into Saturday in positive form after edging ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton for the second time in practice two of the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.

Hamilton currently holds a 24-point lead over Rosberg in the championship standings with just two races left to go.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo had a better stint on the track in the second session after clocking the fourth-quickest time, just behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Ricciardo's teammate Sebastian Vettel also had a better practice by finishing ninth fastest, but McLaren's Jenson Button was way down the field having posted the 16th-quickest time.

With less than half an hour left to go in the session, the red flag was brought out after Fernando Alonso's Ferrari caught fire, which caused the Spaniard to jump out of the vehicle and attend to the flames himself with a fire extinguisher.

Full standings:

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
4. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
5. Valterri Bottas (Williams)
6. Felipe Massa (Williams)
7. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
8. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
9. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
10. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren)
11. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus)
12. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
13. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
14. Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber)
15. Adrian Sutil (Sauber)
16. Jenson Button (McLaren)
17. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso)
18. Sergio Perez (Force India)