SEPANG, Malaysia -- Lewis Hamilton beat teammate Nico Rosberg to the fastest time in the second practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Hamilton held a 0.233s over Rosberg as both drivers completed low-fuel runs on the soft tyres midway through the session. As expected, Mercedes held a comfortable advantage over the opposition, but it was Ferrari and not Red Bull that got closest.
Sebastian Vettel finished the session third fastest 0.661s off Hamilton, with teammate Kimi Raikkonen 0.237s further back in fourth. Max Verstappen was fifth fastest as Red Bull used the soft tyres for the first time, but the gap of over a second to Hamilton -- half of which was lost in sector three on the long back straight -- suggests Red Bull's power deficit will be felt more in Sepang than two weeks ago in Singapore.
Sergio Perez set the sixth fastest time in the Force India, just edging Fernando Alonso's McLaren by 0.012. Once again, Alonso was running the updated Honda power unit, but the team confirmed that he would use the same engine he used at Monza for the rest of the weekend. By using the new engine in Friday practice this weekend he will be hit with a 30-place grid penalty on Sunday, but on the plus side will be able to use the new engine penalty-free at Honda's home race in Suzuka next weekend.
Alonso's effort was enough to beat Daniel Ricciardo to seventh by 0.041s, who in turn was 0.053s ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India. Jenson Button was tenth fastest, without the updated Honda power unit, 0.419s off teammate Alonso.
Carlos Sainz was 11th fastest ahead of Jolyon Palmer in 12th for Renault. The Williams remained outside the top ten and were split by the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez, who was 0.741s faster than teammate Romain Grosjean in 20th.
Daniil Kvyat finished 16th, ahead of Sauber pair Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. Kevin Magnussen was 19th, following an impressive job by Renault to get him back out on track after his car caught fire dramatically in the early stages of FP1. However, the Danish driver irked former McLaren teammate Jenson Button, who he held up on a flying lap.
Manor pair Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon rounded out the leaderboard in 21st and 22nd.