Hamilton sets the pace in Sepang practice

Lewis Hamilton edged Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to top practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion was the only driver to dip into the 1:34s bracket as he headed the times by 0.2s from title rival Rosberg.

Hamilton’s personal best arrived on soft compound rubber with just under an hour of the second 90 minute session remaining.

Rosberg backed up Hamilton’s pace in the sister Mercedes to end Friday practice in second spot having topped the morning outing.

Ferrari emerged as Mercedes’ nearest rivals with Sebastian Vettel third and Kimi Raikkonen fourth.

The Maranello squad were well shy of the Silver Arrows’ pace with Vettel 0.6s slower than Hamilton’s benchmark.

It proved to be a difficult day for Red Bull with the Milton Keynes squad more than a second adrift of Mercedes.

Max Verstappen was fifth quickest with the Dutchman 0.3s faster than team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who finished eighth, behind Force India’s Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso (McLaren).

Alonso debuted an upgraded Honda power unit in Practice 2 with the Spaniard set to revert to an older specification engine for tomorrow.

The double world champion, who damaged the floor of his car during the session, will incur a 30-place grid penalty and start from the rear of the field.

Nico Hulkenberg and Alonso’s team-mate Jenson Button completed the top 10.

Williams struggled for outright speed with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa 13th and 15th respectively.

Renault’s Kevin Magnussen joined the session late after his car underwent a sizeable repair following a fire in opening practice.

The Dane was 19th fastest and well adrift his team-mate Jolyon Palmer in 12th position.

Result: Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix Practice 2

POS	DRIVER	CAR	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1m34.944s	–	35
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1m35.177s	0.233s	36
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1m35.605s	0.661s	37
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1m35.842s	0.898s	31
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull/Renault	1m36.037s	1.093s	29
6	Sergio Perez	Force India/Mercedes	1m36.284s	1.340s	33
7	Fernando Alonso	McLaren/Honda	1m36.296s	1.352s	27
8	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull/Renault	1m36.337s	1.393s	30
9	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India/Mercedes	1m36.390s	1.446s	37
10	Jenson Button	McLaren/Honda	1m36.715s	1.771s	22
11	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso/Ferrari	1m36.836s	1.892s	30
12	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1m36.940s	1.996s	36
13	Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes	1m37.016s	2.072s	37
14	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas/Ferrari	1m37.048s	2.104s	28
15	Felipe Massa	Williams/Mercedes	1m37.110s	2.166s	19
16	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso/Ferrari	1m37.297s	2.353s	29
17	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber/Ferrari	1m37.449s	2.505s	28
18	Felipe Nasr	Sauber/Ferrari	1m37.547s	2.603s	26
19	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1m37.664s	2.720s	19
20	Romain Grosjean	Haas/Ferrari	1m37.789s	2.845s	25
21	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor/Mercedes	1m37.878s	2.934s	34
22	Esteban Ocon	Manor/Mercedes	1m37.990s	3.046s	36

Result: Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix Practice 1 

Position	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:35.22s	–	25
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:35.72	+0.49s	25
3	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:36.31	+1.08	16
4	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:36.33	+1.10	18
5	Fernando Alonso	McLaren/Honda	1:36.51	+1.28	18
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull/Renault	1:36.75	+1.52	27
7	Max Verstappen	Red Bull/Renault	1:36.97	+1.74	26
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India/Mercedes	1:37.51	+2.28	26
9	Sergio Perez	Force India/Mercedes	1:37.60	+2.37	27
10	Jenson Button	McLaren/Honda	1:37.61	+2.38	20
11	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso/Ferrari	1:37.84	+2.62	29
12	Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes	1:37.86	+2.63	17
13	Romain Grosjean	Haas/Ferrari	1:37.88	+2.65	22
14	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas/Ferrari	1:37.92	+2.69	20
15	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso/Ferrari	1:38.05	+2.82	25
16	Felipe Nasr	Sauber/Ferrari	1:38.18	+2.95	18
17	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber/Ferrari	1:38.31	+3.08	20
18	Felipe Massa	Williams/Mercedes	1:38.33	+3.11	24
19	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:39.14	+3.92	23
20	Esteban Ocon	Manor/Mercedes	1:40.03	+4.80	28
21	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor/Mercedes	1:40.62	+5.40	26
22	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	–	–	2