Prac Two: Ferrari join Red Bull battle

Red Bull Racing did not have it all their own way in Friday's second Hungarian practice as Ferrari joined the battle for the P1 slot.

In much the same style as Friday morning's session, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber led the way for much of the afternoon session with Ferrari closing the gap as Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa slotted into third and fourth places.

And although it appeared as if the Red Bull's would end with another 1-2 result, Alonso managed to split the two, slotting in behind Sebastian Vettel and ahead of Mark Webber.

Massa was fourth, and the only other driver to get within a second of Vettel's P1 time, while Vitaly Petrov, Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top eight.

Report: With cloud cover building up the west of the Hungaroring, the track temperature dropped to 31'C at the start of Practice Two. The drivers were quick to make their mark on the timesheets with Kamui Kobayashi setting the early pace before he was soon overhauled by Vitaly Petrov, Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton. Jenson Button took second place on his first run while Hamilton moved up behind his team-mate and ahead of Hulkenberg and Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello continued lapping, taking the P1 slot with a 1:22.468.

The Brazilian's reign was short-lived as Fernando Alonso went quickest of all with a 1:21.826. Button and Hamilton and Robert Kubica slotted in behind him. Felipe Massa made it a Ferrari 1-2 before Mark Webber took control, almost half a second up on Alonso's best. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel then made it a Red Bull 1-2.

The two Bulls, armed with their controversial front wings, continued to pound the track, both improving their times with Vettel just 0.04s behind his team-mate. Vettel finally overhauled Webber, lapping the Hungaroring 0.105s quicker the Aussie.

Behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris, the chasing pack did what they could to make a dent. Hulkenberg was the first up into fifth place, followed by Petrov and then Nico Rosberg. As for Rosberg's Merc GP team-mate, Michael Schumacher, he was down in 15th place.

Webber retook the P1 slot off Vettel while Alonso overhauled Massa and still it remained a Red Bull 1-2 and a Ferrari 3-4. Petrov put an end to the Red Bull, Ferrari domination when he slotted into fourth place ahead of Massa. Button improved to P8 but was still 1.6s off the pace.

Hamilton put in a much-improved lap, getting within a second of the Bulls and taking fifth place in the process. However, there was no stopping the Red Bull drivers as Webber put in two purple sector times to extend his lead with a 1:20.597. Massa, meanwhile, climbed back up to fourth place. Alonso also put in a flyer, taking second place off Vettel only for the German to respond with three purple sector times and a 1:20.087 as once again it became a Red Bull 1-2.

Alonso again brought the Red Bull 1-2 to an end, improving to second place, 0.497s behind Vettel. Schumacher was another to make gains, although his only just put him into the top ten in tenth place.

23 of the 24 drivers, excluding Heikki Kovalainen, hit the track in the final ten minutes and yet there was very little movement on the timesheets with practice eventually ending with Vettel quickest, ahead of Alonso and Webber.

Times:
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:20.087 33 laps
02. Alonso Ferrari 1:20.584 + 0.497 34 laps
03. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:20.597 + 0.510 36 laps
04. Massa Ferrari 1:20.986 + 0.899 33 laps
05. Petrov Renault 1:21.195 + 1.108 33 laps
06. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.308 + 1.221 30 laps
07. Kubica Renault 1:21.375 + 1.288 37 laps
08. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:21.623 + 1.536 41 laps
09. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.730 + 1.643 33 laps
10. Schumacher Mercedes 1:21.773 + 1.686 31 laps
11. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:21.809 + 1.722 38 laps
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:21.844 + 1.757 36 laps
13. Rosberg Mercedes 1:22.039 + 1.952 28 laps
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:22.212 + 2.125 37 laps
15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:22.469 + 2.382 43 laps
16. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:22.507 + 2.420 22 laps
17. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:22.602 + 2.515 38 laps
18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:23.138 + 3.051 36 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:24.553 + 4.466 37 laps
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:25.376 + 5.289 35 laps
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:25.669 + 5.582 32 laps
22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:26.745 + 6.658 33 laps
23. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:26.798 + 6.711 32 laps
24. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:27.705 + 7.618 5 laps

Source: Planet-F1