McLaren remained on top in second practice in China, but this time the advantage swung to Lewis Hamilton as the 2008 world champion laid down a marker for the weekend ahead with Friday’s fastest time.
Mercedes again provided the Woking team’s main competition, with Nico Rosberg second quickest and Michael Schumacher fourth – just as they were in the morning – sandwiched by Jenson Button in the second McLaren.
Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber trailed in fifth and sixth, but F1’s current form team rarely makes waves in Friday practice and usually comes to the fore when it matters most in qualifying.
Adrian Sutil was a strong seventh for Force India ahead of Jaime Alguersuari, who upheld Toro Rosso’s honour after the suspension failure that pitched his team-mate Sebastien Buemi into an alarming accident in the morning. ITV
“I come out with a positive feeling but you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” said Hamilton, who started 20th in Malaysia after his team misread the weather in qualifying.
“We’ve just got to get our heads down and get the best possible qualifying position”.
Button said he still feared the pace of the Red Bulls, who finished one-two in the last race in Malaysia and at a rain-swept Shanghai last year.
“I don’t think the Red Bulls have showed their hands yet, but they will be quick, they are still the ones to beat,” he said.
Twice world champion Alonso, who failed to finish the last race in Malaysia because of an engine failure, said Friday’s blow up had been expected.
“The engine I had this morning was the one we had changed after qualifying in Bharain and we knew sooner or later it could break,” said the Spaniard, whose championship leading team mate Felipe Massa had the 11th fastest time. Yahoo! Eurosport
Vitaly Petrov was 12th in the second Renault on 1m 36.986s. Pedro de la Rosa just pipped BMW Sauber team mate Kamui Kobayashi on this occasion with 1m 37.421s to 1m 37.431s, with Williams’ Rubens Barrichello taking 15th on 1m 37.657s ahead of Vitantonio Liuzzi in the second Force India on 1m 37.804s and Williams’ Nico Hulkenberg on 1m 37.867s.
After Karun Chandhok had enjoyed a spell placing HRT as the fastest of the new teams, Jarno Trulli supplanted him for Lotus with 1m 39.624s ahead of team mate Heikki Kovalainen on 1m 39.947s. The Finn provided one of the few moments when he pulled off towards the end with mechanical problems.
In the end the Virgins were split by Chandhok, Timo Glock lapping his VR-01 in 1m 40.233s to the Indian’s 1m 41.008s and Lucas di Grassi’s 1m 41.107s. Bruno Senna was 23rd on 1m 41.345s, and Buemi did not run as his car was still being fixed. Formula 1
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Jenson Button Fastest in First Practice at Shanghai
Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix - First Practice Results
Lewis Hamilton Fastest in Second Practice at Shanghai
Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix - Second Practice Results
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