Raikkonen fastest in practice 2 - China
Kimi Raikkonen remained on top in the second practice session at Shanghai, but only after a last-minute lap that beat Fernando Alonso's previous benchmark by just six thousandths of a second
Felipe Massa was third, only 0.023 seconds off the pace, with points leader Lewis Hamilton fourth again.
World champion Alonso had been fastest for most of the afternoon, swiftly overcoming teammate Hamilton's initial 1:37.657 with a lap 0.077 seconds faster.
Both found more time when they rejoined ten minutes later, and again it was Alonso who came through marginally faster, his 1:36.828 lap beating Hamilton by 0.048 seconds.
The McLarens then switched to soft tyres for their next appearance. While Alonso found another 0.2 seconds and lapped in 1:36.613, Hamilton had a spin at Turn 1 and failed to improve.
Massa then came through to split the McLarens, lapping 0.017 seconds slower than Alonso. With the top drivers then focusing on long runs, the leading times were set for the next 40 minutes.
Morning pacesetter Raikkonen had not threatened the top of the timesheets for most of the afternoon, instead languishing on the outskirts of the top six.
But in the final moments the Finn switched to soft tyres and threw in a 1:36.607 to beat Alonso by just 0.006 seconds.
Jarno Trulli was just half a second off the pace for Toyota in fifth place, with his teammate Ralf Schumacher seventh behind Red Bull's Mark Webber.
The Australian's teammate David Coulthard had also appeared in the top five early in the session, and ended the day in eighth.
Nico Rosberg and Giancarlo Fisichella completed the top ten positions.
After his gearbox problem in practice one, Nick Heidfeld's bad luck continued as a hydraulic problem sidelined his BMW just 11 minutes into the session.
Once again the car was recovered to the pits in time for repairs to be carried out, and he rejoined the track later in the afternoon, although he could only manage 15th.
Heikki Kovalainen was similarly fortunate when his Renault struck fuel pressure problems after 42 minutes. The car was recovered to the pits and repaired before resuming running and taking 11th.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:36.607 31 2. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.613 + 0.006 28 3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:36.630 + 0.023 29 4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.876 + 0.269 33 5. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:37.151 + 0.544 36 6. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:37.450 + 0.843 34 7. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:37.524 + 0.917 32 8. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:37.617 + 1.010 27 9. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:37.646 + 1.039 36 10. Fisichella Renault (B) 1:37.970 + 1.363 32 11. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:38.062 + 1.455 21 12. Button Honda (B) 1:38.205 + 1.598 41 13. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:38.304 + 1.697 40 14. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:38.379 + 1.772 39 15. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:38.388 + 1.781 16 16. Wurz Williams-Toyota (B) 1:38.531 + 1.924 32 17. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:38.975 + 2.368 38 18. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:39.065 + 2.458 36 19. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:39.224 + 2.617 37 20. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:39.360 + 2.753 37 21. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:39.404 + 2.797 34 22. Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:40.051 + 3.444 38 All timing unofficial
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