Fernando Alonso tops FP2 at Interlagos as investigations rumble on

Fernando Alonso provided a surprise in FP2 as he topped the timesheets ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas in second and third respectively. 

Alonso was over eight tenths ahead of the Dutchman Verstappen with Bottas in third. Alonso set the fastest time of the session in the second 30 minutes, his time a 1:11.238, enough to cruise to top spot, although don't expect the Alpine to be up there on Sunday. 

Verstappen set a time of 1:12.102 which for a while looked as if it would be enough for first until Fernando Alonso came along. Esteban Ocon was further back in fourth but it represented a solid session for Alpine with some serious straight line speed.

Many teams were working with higher fuel loads, and in particular Mercedes who for large periods were running near the back of the grid before Bottas moved up to third late on and Hamilton finished fifth in the final FP2 standings. 

Sergio Perez (P6), Antonio Giovinazzi (P7), Carlos Sainz (P8), Charles Leclerc (P9) and Kimi Raikkonen (P10) completed the top ten

Punishments loom

However, the whole session was overshadowed by the looming investigations for Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Hamilton could face a penalty as harsh as disqualification for a rear wing infringement whilst Verstappen could be punished for touching the Brit's car in parc ferme. There was no fresh news during the session, but an update will be expected before the F1 Sprint this evening.