Hamilton tops practice 2

Despite the looming prospect of a post-session visit to the stewards to find out if he will be penalised for using too many sets of wet tyres earlier on, Hamilton set the fastest time by 0.122 seconds when both McLarens tried the softer Bridgestones in the final minutes.

The Ferraris only managed third and fourth places.

After the rain that affected first practice, only a few damp areas remained when the second session began. A few drivers experimented with intermediate tyres initially, but once Mark Webber had gone quickest by 2.6 seconds on dry tyres, the rest of the field swiftly followed suit.

With track conditions improving all the time, the top spot quickly changed hands during the following half an hour. Alonso's early 1:16.081 benchmark did not last long before Hamilton embarked on a long run that eventually took him down to a 1:14.949 lap.

Felipe Massa then took a brief turn on top before Alonso reclaimed first place. The BMW drivers were next to lead the way when they tried the softer tyres, with Robert Kubica holding a six tenths of a second advantage over the rest of the field at the halfway point.

Alonso's first run on soft tyres was spoilt by traffic, but on the second attempt he produced a 1:13.239 and beat Kubica by 0.3 seconds.

That proved insufficient when Hamilton switched to softs five minutes later. The championship leader lapped in 1:12.767, half a second quicker than his teammate.

They were briefly split by Felipe Massa, before Alonso found more time on a new set of tyres and closed the gap to Hamilton to 0.122 seconds.

Kimi Raikkonen lost time on his soft tyre run when he locked up while trying to pass Hamilton. He could only manage fourth place.

Giancarlo Fisichella completed the top five for Renault, ahead of Kubica and the two Williams. Kazuki Nakajima had been as high as fourth during the session, before ending the day 0.009 seconds slower than teammate Nico Rosberg.

Pos  Driver        Team                    Time              Laps
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:12.767           27
 2.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:12.889 + 0.122   28
 3.  Massa         Ferrari            (B)  1:13.075 + 0.308   30
 4.  Raikkonen     Ferrari            (B)  1:13.112 + 0.345   30
 5.  Fisichella    Renault            (B)  1:13.549 + 0.782   22
 6.  Kubica        BMW Sauber         (B)  1:13.587 + 0.820   34
 7.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:13.655 + 0.888   33
 8.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:13.664 + 0.897   38
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:13.706 + 0.939   30
10.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber         (B)  1:13.785 + 1.018   44
11.  R.Schumacher  Toyota             (B)  1:13.829 + 1.062   29
12.  Kovalainen    Renault            (B)  1:13.879 + 1.112   28
13.  Barrichello   Honda              (B)  1:13.892 + 1.125   45
14.  Button        Honda              (B)  1:14.095 + 1.328   44
15.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:14.152 + 1.385   33
16.  Trulli        Toyota             (B)  1:14.179 + 1.412   25
17.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:14.409 + 1.642   37
18.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:14.431 + 1.664   27
19.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:14.477 + 1.710   31
20.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:14.543 + 1.776   35
21.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:15.095 + 2.328   35
22.  Yamamoto      Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:15.715 + 2.948   32

All timing unofficial