02/04/2010
NEWS STORY
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 at 49 percent. There was a brief shower about an hour ago, however, the track is now fully dry, indeed, it was like it never happened.
This morning's session took place in almost ideal conditions, however, for the last week there have been tropical storms in the late afternoon, a factor that is likely to be of even more concern tomorrow and Sunday when the action gets underway three hours later than this session.
In this morning's session McLaren appeared to have the edge, with Hamilton and Button first and second for much of the time until a late charge saw Mercedes drivers Rosberg and Schumacher take second and fourth.
McLaren appearing to make full use of its F-duct, while Sauber is once again running its version of the device.
Vettel complained that his car was sluggish under acceleration, insisting that it felt as though his brakes were on, however, team boss Christian Horner saying it was a minor engine problem.
Tyre options are hard (prime) and soft (option), though we didn't see the softer compound this morning.
Heikki Kovalainen and Tonio Liuzzi watched from the sidelines this morning, replaced by their teams' test drivers - Fairuz Fauzy and Paul di Resta - however, both are back in action this afternoon. Indeed, when the lights go green Kovalainen is first out, ahead of di Grassi, Webber and Liuzzi.
Kovalainen posts the first time of the afternoon, crossing the line at 1:44.393 however, this is soon beaten by di Grass who crosses the line at 43.500.
A 38.679 sees Liuzzi go quickest, as Kobayashi spins.
Button goes quickest in the first sector and Buemi in the second as Alguersuari goes quickest over all with a 37.562.
Buemi posts 36.926 as Button aborts his lap, elsewhere Hamilton goes quickest in the first sector. The 2008 champ is quickest again in the second sector, finally crossing the line at 34.954, going quickest by 1.972.
Robert Kubica continues o impress in the Renault, the Pole going second with a 36.012. Moments later however, he is demoted when Button posts 35.541 to go second.
Ten minutes into the session, Alonso goes twelfth with a 39.716 as teammate Massa heads down the pitlane.
Hamilton goes quickest in the first two corners but loses time behind Trulli in the final corner and consequently he fails to improve.
As Schumacher begins his first flying lap, countryman Sutil goes fourth with a 36.278. Elsewhere, Hamilton now loses time behind one of the Hispanias.
Schumacher goes third with a 35.681, the Mercedes not looking entirely at ease. Meanwhile, the Ferraris remain fifteenth and seventeenth.
Webber, currently eighteenth (39.521) is on a charge, the Red Bull looking very stable and quick. That said, he only improves to 39.214.
Rosberg goes second with a 35.351, once again splitting the McLarens and once again out-pacing his illustrious teammate.
Hamilton goes quickest in the second sector and again in the third, crossing the line at 34.765. Moments later, Schumacher posts 35.309 making it a Mercedes 2-3. Replay shows the German struggling for grip particularly under braking.
Massa and Alonso, both well down the timesheets, are on long runs, Ferrari clearly focussing on reliability and tyre wear as opposed to outright pace at this stage
Button's left-rear tyre is showing a lot of wear, just as Webber's session comes to a close, the Australian deliberately driving into the gravel after some kind of failure. Not the best start for Red Bull, particularly when one considers Vettel's complaints during the earlier session.
Rosberg goes quickest in the first sector and a personal best in the second, even though yellow flags are being waved following Webber's retirement. The German, one of the first drivers to run on the option tyre, crosses the line at 35.145 to go second.
Petrov (option) posts personal bests in the first two sectors, crossing the line at 35.872 to go seventh. Alonso, also on options, remains fifteenth (38.637).
Buemi (option) improves to fifth with a 35.660, ahead of Kubica and Petrov.
Schumacher is back on track, the German, on options, posting personal bests in the second and third sectors, crossing the line at 34.825 to go second. He immediately goes quickest in the opening sector of his next lap, but this is eclipsed by Hamilton who is also on options. Going quickest in the final sector, Schumacher takes the top spot with a 34.674, however, Hamilton responds with a 34.276.
At half-time, it's: Hamilton, Schumacher, Rosberg, Kubica, Button, Buemi, Petrov, Sutil, Kobayashi and de la Rosa.
Button (options) posts personal best in the first and second sectors, crossing the line at 34.538 to go second. However, Hamilton, having gone quickest in the first sector, is quickest again in the third, raising the benchmark with a 34.175. The Englishman complains that he's suffering excessive wheelspin on upshifting.
Rosberg goes quickest in the first sector, and posts personal best in the second. At the line it's 34.443 moving the German up to second. On his next lap he immediately goes quickest in the first sector, however, he loses time over the course of the remainder of the lap.
Vettel complains of an issue with the power steering on his car, asking his crew to check the data.
Buemi is one of several drivers to run wide, the Swiss getting caught out at Turn 12. Moments later his Toro Rosso teammate gets all out of shape and heads into the gravel at Turn 8. However, the Spaniard is able to continue.
Despite his numerous problems, Vettel (options) goes second, crossing he line at 34.441. Meanwhile, Buemi replicates his teammate's off, same corner same trip across the gravel.
Back in the Red Bull garage, the mechanics cannot find a problem with Vettel's power steering.
Bruno Senna takes a long drive through the gravel at Turn 11, a corner which is catching out quite a few drivers today. Elsewhere, a minor moment for Schumacher who gets a little ahead of himself while Glock almost comes to grief on the kerbs.
The drivers are now focussing on longer runs, consequently, with twenty minutes remaining, there are no significant improvements. Both Ferraris still in the bottom half of the standings while the Williams are ahead of them in fourteenth and fifteenth.
Massa posts personal bests in the first two sectors, crossing but there is no overall improvement. The Brazilian appears to be running on a full load as opposed to a low fuel qualifying run.
Personal bests in all three sectors see Alonso go seventh overall (35.581), while Button complains that his rear end is "moving around a hell of a lot".
With five minutes remaining, Massa remains nineteenth, just ahead of Webber, with the Williams still fifteenth and sixteenth over 2.6s off the pace.
Massa, back on track on a fresh set of options, weave about on the back straight as he generates heat into his tyres. The Brazilian now finally appearing to go for a low fuel qualifying run. He posts personal bests in the first two sectors, crossing the line at 36.602 to go, er, fifteenth.
The session ends with Hamilton quickest, as he was this morning, ahead of Vettel, Rosberg, Button, Schumacher, Kubica, Alonso, Buemi, Petrov and Sutil.
Kobayashi finished eleventh, ahead of Liuzzi, de la Rosa, Alguersuari, Massa, Barrichello, Hulkenberg, Trulli, Kovalainen, Webber, Glock, di Grassi, Chandhok and Senna.