Nico Rosberg bounces back to top Mexican GP practice

German driver Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG Petronas is seen during the first practice of the F1 Mexico Grand Prix at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City on October 30, 2015. PHOTO | RONALDO SCHEMIDT |   AFP

In Summary

• Brazilian Felipe Massa was 10th in the second Williams.
• Hamilton was also among the spinners as the conditions changed from wet to damp to dry and then wet again, when it rained in the closing stages.

By AFP
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MEXICO CITY

Nico Rosberg bounced back from his disappointment in Texas last Sunday to top the times in Friday afternoon's second free practice for Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix, the first in the city for 23 years.

Five days after failing to stop his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton from clinching his third drivers' world title, the 30-year-old German proved he was determined to gain some satisfaction in his bid to finish runner-up in the championship.

(READ: Peerless Hamilton claims third world title)

Rosberg clocked a fastest lap in one minute and 21.531 seconds to outpace nearest rival Russian Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull by two-tenths of a second in a busy session that saw many drivers struggling for grip and spinning on the low-grip surface of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Daniel Ricciardo was third in the second Renault-powered Red Bull ahead of Hamilton, in the second Mercedes, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Valtteri Bottas, who smashed the front wing off his Williams in a high-speed off-track excursion, was seventh ahead of Spaniard Fernando Alonso and his McLaren team-mate 2009 champion Jenson Button of McLaren.

Button, running with a new Honda engines, is expected to have a 20-25 place grid penalty, or more, for Sunday's race as he plans to run with another new engine from Saturday.

Brazilian Felipe Massa was 10th in the second Williams.

At the bottom of the order, Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, who topped the times in the opening free practice session in the morning, failed to clock a lap time after he crashed on his opening lap in the second session in his Toro Rosso.

Hamilton was also among the spinners as the conditions changed from wet to damp to dry and then wet again, when it rained in the closing stages.

Verstappen, 18, was not even born when Briton Nigel Mansell won the last Formula One race in Mexico City in a Williams in 1992.