SEPANG: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One (F1) Team driver Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in the second practice session of the 2014 Petronas Malaysian F1 Grand Prix (GP) at the Sepang Circuit, here, Friday.
Rosberg, who had achieved the season's opening victory in Melbourne at the Australian Grand Prix, last Sunday, clocked the fastest time of one minute, 39.909 seconds in lap 30 of the one-and-a-half hour practice session on Friday.
Following a mere 0.035 seconds behind him was Finland's Kimi Raikkonen of the Scuderia Ferrari.
Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel of Germany clocked the third fastest time of 1:39.970s.
British's Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One (F1) Team, who set the fastest time in the first practice session, was in fourth position with 1:40.051s.
Meanwhile, Malaysian-owned F1 team, Caterham F1 Team drivers Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) settled for 20th position, clocking 1:45.703s.
Rosberg said the quickest teams seem to be closer together than the race in Australia, so they still have to work more to improve their level of performance.
"It was crazy conditions out there. In the very, very warm temperatures, it is a huge challenge to get everything right. The cars are on the edge and the tyre degradation was higher than expected today.
"We are sliding a bit more this year, perhaps because of the reduced downforce levels. We are still having some small issues and therefore we were not able to maximise everything today," said Rosberg.
Vettel, who finished third today, said he had a good day and it was good to be up there (position) and in range of the top guys.
He said that they (he and Daniel Ricciardo) had a decent day, not a completely smooth day for both of them because there were still some things to solve on the software side and the programming.
Meanwhile, Rosberg's team-mate, Hamilton, who set the fastest time in the first practice session said he was happy with their progress over the two sessions today and they were able to complete their programme.
He said the car felt good and their focus was on trying to understand the tyres and make sure the balance was right for the weekend.
"There are areas where we can improve so we are keeping focused on our own work, rather than being distracted by what the others are doing. It was pretty tough with the temperature and humidity and it is so important to keep hydrated here.
"We would love a good result this weekend, particularly as it is the home race for Petronas, but it's impossible to predict what will happen at this stage. It is one of the trickiest races of the year so we just have to make sure we tick all the boxes and that it all comes together for us," he said.
BERNAMA
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