Practice 2 Report - Second verse same as the first

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in Free Practice 2 on Friday afternoon just as he had in FP1 in the morning. He clocked a 1:38.673 in his Mercedes, which beat Sebastian Vettel's time of 1:38.781 in his Red Bull.

Mercedes and Red Bull drivers were third and fourth quickest with Nico Rosberg setting a 1:38.797 and Mark Webber a 1:38.844. This foursome was the only drivers to get below 1 minute 39 seconds.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius), and the track temperature was 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius.)

Marussia's Jules Bianchi was the first out. Others followed him out and began setting lap times. Jean-Eric Vergne put his Toro Rosso on top with a 1:43.310.

As in FP1, the drivers were using Pirelli's medium compound tires with the white sidewalls.

6 minutes into the session, Valtteri Bottas (Williams) beat that with a 1:42.009, but that didn't last long as Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) clocked a 1:41.191.

10 minutes into the session, Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) set the ante at 1: 39.696 as Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes into second place with a 1:40.196.

14 minutes into the session, Mark Webber clocked a 1:39.598 in his Red Bull. And Kimi Raikkonen, who had crashed at the end of FP1, finally ventured out in his repaired Lotus. His first flying lap was 19th fastest.

15 minutes into the session, Hamilton took the honors with a 1:39.510. His teammate Nico Rosberg was fourth with a time of 1:39.731.

20 minutes into the session, Webber was out on another quick lap and improved to 1:39.548.

Raikkonen, meanwhile, had gone up to 11th place with a lap of 1:41.177. He then turned a 1:40.444 and moved up to eighth. He complained that the car was pulling to the right.

At the 30 minute mark the top six were: Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Jenson Button (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari.) The top four were the only ones below the 1:40s.

31 minutes into the session, Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) tried out the super soft Pirellis with the red sidewalls. Webber won on the super softs as well, and he turned a 1:38.844.

37 minutes into the session, Hamilton, on the super softs, slammed in a 138.673. And Rosberg moved into second with a 1:38.797.

42 minutes into the session, Alonso set the fifth fastest time using the super soft tire.

Midway through FP2 the top six were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Webber, Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Romain Grosjean (Lotus) and Alonso. Vettel, who had yet to run the super softs, was seventh and Raikkonen, who had run the tires, was eighth.

46 minutes into the session, Esteban Gutierrez spun and continued in his Sauber.

54 minutes into the session, his Red Bull shod with the red side-walled Pirellis, headed out for a warm-up lap. His flying lap time of 1:38.781 was second best behind Hamilton.

At the 60 minute mark the top six were: Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Webber, Massa and Grosjean.

After the runs on the reds, the drivers were now back on the white side-walled medium compound slicks. Others did long runs to see how many laps they could get out of the super softs. Hamilton was the best on super soft long runs and said there was still a lot of life left in the tires when he finally came into the pits.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, every driver was out on the track.

With 5 minutes remaining in the session, every driver was out on the track.

With 2 minutes remaining in the session, every driver was out on the track. More than one driver smoked his worn out tires while braking for a bend.

With 1 minute remaining in the session, every driver was out on the track.

The top ten at the end of FP2, when every driver was off the track, were: Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Webber, Massa, Grosjean, Alonso, Raikkonen, Button and Adrian Sutil (Force India.)