Ahead of today's second free practice session the air temperature is 32 degrees C, while the track temperature is 47 degrees. It remains bright and sunny, with humidity now running at 53%.

The big news is that David Coulthard is to miss this afternoon's session as his team investigates the cause of this morning's accident, or rather, why the front of the car disintegrated so easily.

The lights go green and within five minutes there are twelve times on the board, with Alonso leading the way from Heidfeld and Kubica. However, there's more misery for Ferrari, kind of, as Bourdais pulls of track with what appears to be an engine problem.

It's a McLaren 1-2 as Kovalainen and Hamilton take the top two places, the Finn posting 1:37.943. In the Ferrari garage, Jean Todt, in plain clothes, watches as Raikkonen begins his first flying lap of the session. The Finn goes quickest in the first two sectors, finally crossing the line at 36.119 to go quickest.

Though Coulthard might be sidelined, for Webber it's business as usual, which seems odd considering that Red Bull doesn't know the reason for the Scot's problem.

Vettel goes fifth (38.196), ahead of Piquet, Barrichello, Heidfeld and Trulli. Meanwhile, a 36.847 sees Massa go second, moments after Hamilton leapfrogs his McLaren teammate with a 37.206.

As Nick Heidfeld watches from the BMW garage, Piquet goes fourth, splitting the McLarens. Fernando Alonso is on track, improving from fourteenth to fourth with a 37.601, thereby displacing his teammate.

Rosberg is running the softer (medium) compound, as is Vettel. The Toro Rosso driver takes fourth with a 37.591, as Kubica posts a personal best in the first sector.

A rare 360 degree spin for Alonso at the final corner - the one that appears to be catching out everyone today - as Vettel improves to second with a 36.777.

Massa is back on track, as Glock improves to tenth (38.240). While the German is able to improve to ninth on his next lap, the World Champion is 0.293s off his own previous best.

Trulli goes fifth (37.400) on the medium compound, as Kovalainen (medium) posts a personal best in the first sector. He's really fighting the car in the final corner, but at the line it's 36.874, which is enough to promote him to fourth. However, Hamilton is now on track, the Englishman also running the (softer) medium compound. A poor final sector, due to traffic, sees him fail to improve.

Webber (hard) goes tenth, crossing the line at 38.061, albeit 2s off Raikkonen's pace. Meanwhile, despite getting all out of shape at the final corner, Rosberg (hard) goes fifth with a 37.010.

Massa (medium) posts a personal best in the first sector, as Vettel does likewise in the second. While the German fails to improve, a poor final sector, the Brazilian gains around 0.4s, but fails to improve on third.

Even as he enters the pitlane, Rosberg appears to be fighting the Williams.

Hamilton is back on track, now running the harder compound. Meanwhile, Heidfeld can only manage fifteenth, 2.179s off the pace. Admittedly, the German outfit doesn't go for times on Fridays.

Alonso is on track running mediums, as is former Renault teammate Trulli. Elsewhere, Button goes seventh with a 37.146.

Raikkonen (hard) goes quickest in the first two sectors, however, a 'poor' final sector sees him fail to improve.

While Massa and Rosberg look set to improve, Alonso is still down in tenth. Rosberg goes sixth (36.908), as Massa improves to second with a 36.419. An improvement from Trulli sees Alonso drop to eleventh.

Nakajima (medium) has a moment at the final corner and returns to the pits, as, a Ferrari technician and his Williams counterpart appear to share notes.

Hamilton (medium) goes quickest in the first two sectors, and despite a poor third, moves up to second overall with a 36.414.

Raikkonen (medium) goes quickest in the first two sectors, but the TV director concentrates on Barrichello, who fails to improve, unlike the Finn, who consolidates top-spot with a 35.627.

Heidfeld and Massa (both medium) are on hot laps, with the Brazilian going quickest in the first sector. The German improves to eight with a 37.106, while the Ferrari driver takes second with a 35.728.