Practice Two: Vettel tops Red Bull 1-2

Sebastian Vettel continued his Indian domination as he set the pace in Practice Two while his team-mate Mark Webber was a buffer between him and Fernando Alonso

With the track temperature a sweltering 38'C, the drivers were quickly down to business with Romain Grosjean setting the early pace with a 1:30.210. Within the first ten minutes every driver except the two Ferraris had set a time with Mark Webber the new pace-setter with a 1:28.847.

But it wasn't long before the Scuderia's drivers made their mark with Fernando Alonso, who is running new diffuser, new brake ducts and end plates, going 15th quickest. However, his title rival was at the other end of the grid as Sebastian Vettel went quickest with 1:28.064. Alonso, though, came back almost immediately and took the P1 slot.

He soon lost it to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton but again fought back and posted a 1:27.402 to lead the way. But while Alonso was running at the front, his team-mate Felipe Massa was running off the track, putting his F2012 into a spin while tapping the Pirelli advertising boards. No damage to the car.

The Brazilian, though, was not the only one slipping and sliding as Romain Grosjean added his name to that list when he lost it at Turn 11 while Bruno Senna spun his Williams at Turn 4. Vettel was the next to lead the way with a 1:27.256.

However, it was all change in the second half of practice as the Lotus drivers were the first out on the soft tyres. Kimi Raikkonen went quickest only to lose out to Nico Rosberg by 0.008s while Felipe Massa's first run was not at all successful as he slid off the track, kicking up gravel and grass. He wasn't the only Ferrari driver struggling with balance as minutes earlier Alonso's car had been snapping all over the place and looked to be a right handful.

Getting a handle on his F2012, Alonso finally went quickest with a 1:26.964 but was beaten by Vettel by 0.04s. A brief tussle began between the title protagonists and Webber for the P1 slot with the trio swapping positions as they made the most of the hot track and the soft tyres.

The battle eventually quietened down with Vettel in the P1 slto with a 1:26.211 and Webber second, 0.118s adrift while Alonso was third ahead of Nico Rosberg and Raikkonen. And with the drivers swapping to heavier fuel loads as the track cooled down, the times remained the same with Vettel finishing at the top.

Two drivers had the sessions curtailed; Vitaly Petrov with an engine problem and Narain Karthikeyan with a hydraulic issue.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:26.221 35 laps
02 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:26.339 0.118 33 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.820 0.599 34 laps
04 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:27.022 0.801 38 laps
05 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:27.030 0.809 40 laps
06 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:27.131 0.910 38 laps
07 Jenson Button McLaren 1:27.182 0.961 24 laps
08 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:27.233 1.012 37 laps
09 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:27.397 1.176 36 laps
10 Bruno Senna Williams 1:27.738 1.517 36 laps
11 Paul di Resta Force India 1:28.004 1.783 32 laps
12 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:28.178 1.957 39 laps
13 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:28.222 2.001 37 laps
14 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:28.239 2.018 37 laps
15 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:28.296 2.075 23 laps
16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:28.455 2.234 40 laps
17 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:28.596 2.375 38 laps
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:29.167 2.946 35 laps
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:29.320 3.099 43 laps
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:29.606 3.385 22 laps
21 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:30.950 4.729 37 laps
22 Timo Glock Marussia 1:31.113 4.892 35 laps
23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:31.372 5.151 20 laps
24 Charles Pic Marussia 1:31.493 5.272 31 laps

Source: Planet-F1