Felipe Massa tops wet FP2, diesel spillage interrupts FP1

The Williams driver’s clocking of 2:00.458 on full wet tyres saw him quickest as the chequered flag fell, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finishing second and Massa’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas taking third.

Drivers bemoaned the slippery conditions, with several getting caught out by the large amounts of standing water on the track.

Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen, who was told he couldn't do a flying lap towards the end of the session because the team needed to save tyres as a precaution for Sunday's race, was fourth.

Fernando Alonso was fifth, completing 12 laps, but his session ended slightly early when McLaren instructed him to return to the pits having discovered a problem with his car.

Daniil Kvyat, Carlos Sainz Jr and Jenson Button were the other drivers who set a time.

Neither Lewis Hamilton nor Nico Rosberg risked their Mercedes in flying laps the difficult conditions, choosing instead to dive into the pit line for practice starts.

A diesel spillage from a cleaning truck forced organisers to shorten the first practice session, with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg eventually ending up fastest.

Hamilton left it until the last five minutes to set a timed lap and was seventh on the timesheets.

Hulkenberg led a practice session for the first time this season after banging in a quick lap right at the finish, 0.052 quicker than Rosberg, for a best time of one minute 44.355 seconds.

Hamilton's time was of little significance ahead of a weekend that could see his Mercedes team wrap up their second successive constructors' title, and he would have been higher but for a late spin.

The Briton, who leads team mate Rosberg by 48 points with five races remaining, had been second fastest with two minutes to go as the track got quicker.

The 90 minute session was reduced to an hour as workers hosed and cleansed the track following the 'significant' spillage from a truck that had been supposed to sweep the asphalt.

When drivers did go out, on wet tyres, it was on a slippery track with ominous rain clouds replacing the early morning sunshine.

"What a mess," exclaimed Vettel, who was third fastest, over the team radio after driving through the affected turns seven and eight.

"It is really slippy," agreed Sauber's Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson.

No time was set for the first 20 minutes before Alonso, who will start from the back of the grid due to penalties for engine changes following a Honda upgrade, got things rolling.