Hamilton sets pace in second practice

In a mostly dry session under ominous skies, Hamilton managed to beat Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel by 0.182 seconds, with championship leader Jenson Button third.

In a repeat of first practice, the early running was interrupted by a brief shower, which meant a quiet half hour before dry weather tyres could be used.

Vettel had managed to get a quick lap in before the rain - despite a near-miss with Sebastien Bourdais at the first corner, but once the conditions had cleared Heikki Kovalainen, Nick Heidfeld and Webber all took turns on top, the latter using the softer tyres.

Another Brawn versus Red Bull battle then developed as Button beat Webber's time just before the one hour mark, and ten minutes later Vettel hit the front - using super soft tyres like his rivals with a 1m32.342s, 0.027s quicker than Button.

By now the skies had darkened again and light drizzle was falling. This caught Hamilton out, the world champion spinning at the second corner, but he recovered quickly and set the fastest time of the afternoon on his next lap.

Vettel remained second, with Button sandwiched between the Red Bulls in third.

Jarno Trulli also had a spin in the opening complex, before taking fifth place.

It was another excellent session for Force India as Adrian Sutil recovered from his morning glitch to take sixth. But this time it was Giancarlo Fisichella who was in trouble - the Italian spinning and damaged his car on the barriers just as the early shower hit.

Rubens Barrichello took seventh in second Brawn, with Renault's Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet eighth and 10th, split by Williams's Kazuki Nakajima, although Piquet ended the session parked on the grass after an electrical problem on his last lap.

Ferrari slipped back after its strong morning, with Felipe Massa the best of its drivers in 12th.

Heikki Kovalainen was unable to match his McLaren team-mate Hamilton's strong late run, taking to the grass on his final lap and ending up 17th.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:32.149            23
 2.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:32.331  + 0.182   31
 3.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:32.369  + 0.220   32
 4.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:32.480  + 0.331   28
 5.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:32.511  + 0.362   32
 6.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:32.585  + 0.436   32
 7.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:32.664  + 0.515   26
 8.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:32.774  + 0.625   24
 9.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:32.872  + 0.723   32
10.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:32.992  + 0.843   29
11.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:33.012  + 0.863   36
12.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:33.052  + 0.903   34
13.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:33.128  + 0.979   34
14.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:33.161  + 1.012   28
15.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:33.172  + 1.023   34
16.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:33.182  + 1.033   29
17.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:33.724  + 1.575   27
18.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:33.903  + 1.754   30
19.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:34.025  + 1.876   30
20.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:38.877  + 6.728    3

All Timing Unofficial