Free Practice 2 – McLaren takes the lead again

After the Ferraris in free practice 1, it’s almost become a habit, it’s the McLaren drivers who dominate the next session. Hamilton indeed set the fastest time by a tenth of a second ahead of his teammate, Alonso. The two drivers, in wet conditions despite no rain during the session, were ahead of the two Ferraris, who stayed behind until the last seconds. Results

The track had time to dry since the first session this morning, and the drivers were able to switch to slick tires (for dry conditions) after only a few laps. In dry conditions, the McLarens were the most competitive. From the moment they entered, Hamilton and Alonso were in the top 5, while Räikkönen and Massa, who were more than 0.3 seconds behind, only made their mark in the very last laps.

The Ferraris were indeed stuck in the middle of the pack for a good part of the session, while McLaren was battling with BMW – which hadn’t driven this morning.

Fisichella on Renault delivers a good performance, ahead of Kubica’s BMW, despite being in good form this afternoon. Both Williams are also performing well, with Rosberg setting the 7th fastest time, ahead of his teammate, for his first start, Nakajima. Coulthard and Heidfeld complete the top 10 nearly a second behind the leaders.

Toyota cars are not in the top 10. Schumacher is 11th while Trulli is only 16th. The second Renault, of Kovalainen, who is celebrating his 26th birthday today, could do no better than 12th place, ahead of the two Hondas.

The Toro Rossos have returned to their ‘usual’ places in 15th and 17th positions, ahead of the Super Aguri and the Spyker, which close the standings.

View the Free Practice 2 standings

The weather is always unpredictable and tomorrow the risk of rain is still high, but for the race, the conditions seem to be turning towards sunshine…