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Vettel fastest again in China practice

Sebastian Vettel went fastest in the second practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver leaving little doubt over his status as favourite for victory in Shanghai

Vettel, who was also quickest in the morning, posted a best time of 1m37.688s, but this time he was followed closely by the McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, who were less than three tenths behind the world champion.

Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher showed promising form in the Mercedes, the Germans winding up fourth and fifth - less than half a second off the pace.

Felipe Massa was again the fastest Ferrari driver with the sixth quickest time.

Team-mate Fernando Alonso finished in 14th position having been unable to do much running due to a hydraulic problem in his Ferrari. The Spaniard managed to return to action late in the session, completing a run with soft tyres but without using his DRS.

Hamilton and Button showed they had pace in store after their discreet showing in FP1, both going quicker right at the start of the second session. They exchanged positions a few times before Button moved to the top with a 1m39.431s just 10 minutes into the session.

Ten minutes later it was Rosberg moving to the top of the times, becoming the second man alongside Vettel to lap in the 1m38s. Williams's Pastor Maldonado was also among the frontrunners at the start of the session after deciding to use the softer tyre compound, the Venezuelan the first man to do so.

Massa went quickest around the 30-minute mark also using soft tyres, the Brazilian posting the best time of the weekend until that moment - 1m38.570s.

Rosberg regained the top spot minutes later with his maiden run with the soft tyres, the Mercedes driver the first man to move into the 1m37s.

Team-mate Schumacher jumped to second place - also with a run on softs - when nearing the one-hour mark, the seven-time champion less than two tenths behind Rosberg.

A couple of minutes later, Hamilton retook first place, with Button going second as the McLaren duo tried the soft tyres for the first time. The former reported after his flying lap that his tyres were "finished".

McLaren's domination did not last long however, with Vettel flying to the top spot with a 1m37.688s just a moment later.

Nick Heidfeld had another difficult session following his crash in the morning, the German making contact with the barrier again after going off at Turn 12.

He managed to keep the engine going and returned to the track with no front wing, but was forced to stop before reaching the pits. He was later pushed back into the pits by his mechanics and the German returned to action for the last 25 minutes.

Force India's Paul di Resta also had a difficult afternoon, the Briton's car affected by a fuel-pressure problem that meant he was unable to complete any running.

HRT's Tonio Liuzzi completed just one timed lap after succumbing to a car problem in the first session. He managed to join the track at the very end, but still outpaced the Virgin cars.

Virgin driver Timo Glock was hit by problems again, and although he managed more running than in the morning, the German still lost valuable time in the pits and finished his session early.


Pos  Driver                Team                   Time                Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m37.688s            34
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m37.854s  +	0.166  22
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m37.935s  +	0.247  31
 4.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m37.943s  +	0.255  34
 5.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m38.105s  +	0.417  29
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m38.507s  +	0.819  36
 7.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m38.735s  +	1.047  35
 8.  Nick Heidfeld         Renault                1m38.805s  +	1.117  26
 9.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault                1m38.859s  +	1.171  31
10.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m39.327s  +	1.639  33
11.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m39.538s  +	1.850  33
12.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth      1m39.667s  +	1.979  37
13.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m39.771s  +	2.083  18
14.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m39.779s  +	2.091  17
15.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m39.828s  +	2.140  25
16.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1m39.925s  +	2.237  32
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m39.953s  +	2.265  30
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault          1m40.476s  +	2.788  30
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault          1m41.482s  +	3.794  32
20.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m42.902s  +	5.214  25
21.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth           1m43.850s  +	6.162   3
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth        1m44.008s  +	6.320  35
23.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth        1m44.747s  +	7.059  12

All Timing Unofficial

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