Alonso fastest in practice 2

The Finn had led the way for much of the session after producing a 1: 21.283 lap on hard tyres early on. It took Alonso several attempts to overcome Kovalainen, before he eventually set the 1:20.919 lap that would remain the standard for the rest of the afternoon.

Track conditions were tricky throughout the session - with light rain in the final half an hour adding to the usual problems of the dusty Hungaroring surface.

Many drivers, Alonso included, made use of the asphalt run-off areas, and third-placed Lewis Hamilton ended the session in the gravel after spinning at Turn 9 on his final run.

The Ferraris were only sixth and seventh, with Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Felipe Massa, who spun at Turn 14 in the closing moments.

They were edged out of the top five by Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld, as both Germans repeated their strong morning form.

Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli and morning pace-setter Robert Kubica completed the top ten.

Toro Rosso's new signing Sebastian Vettel finished the afternoon behind teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi in 20th, but was only a tenth slower at the end of his first day in the car.

Sakon Yamamoto did not fare so well in the second Spyker - spinning at Turn 1 early on, and finishing up at the bottom of the timesheets, five seconds off the pace, and 2.6 seconds adrift of teammate Adrian Sutil.

Pos  Driver        Team                    Time               Laps
 1.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:20.919            29
 2.  Kovalainen    Renault            (B)  1:21.283  + 0.364   39
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:21.338  + 0.419   32
 4.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:21.485  + 0.566   40
 5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber         (B)  1:21.517  + 0.598   37
 6.  Raikkonen     Ferrari            (B)  1:21.589  + 0.670   29
 7.  Massa         Ferrari            (B)  1:21.620  + 0.701   29
 8.  Fisichella    Renault            (B)  1:21.698  + 0.779   36
 9.  Trulli        Toyota             (B)  1:21.857  + 0.938   35
10.  Kubica        BMW Sauber         (B)  1:21.906  + 0.987   37
11.  R.Schumacher  Toyota             (B)  1:21.912  + 0.993   29
12.  Wurz          Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:21.987  + 1.068   35
13.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:22.325  + 1.406   28
14.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:22.483  + 1.564   33
15.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:22.510  + 1.591   41
16.  Button        Honda              (B)  1:22.550  + 1.631   47
17.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:22.556  + 1.637   42
18.  Barrichello   Honda              (B)  1:22.727  + 1.808   29
19.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:23.136  + 2.217   42
20.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:23.148  + 2.229   39
21.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:23.673  + 2.754   34
22.  Yamamoto      Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:26.307  + 5.388   29