Button keeps McLaren ahead in practice
Jenson Button kept McLaren on top in second practice at Istanbul, with Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel second and third despite some reliability worries in the closing minutes
McLaren resumed its morning superiority early in the session, with Lewis Hamilton and Button first and second following the initial runs.
Indeed at the halfway point afternoon practice looked extremely symmetrical, with the two McLarens heading the Red Bulls, Mercedes, Renaults, Saubers and Force Indias in two by two formation through the top 12.
The neat order was shuffled soon afterwards. Hamilton switched to softer tyres with 40 minutes to go and trimmed 0.020 seconds from his time to get down to 1m28.672s - but moments later Vettel went quicker still on the same tyres, lapping in 1m28.590s.
He stayed in front for five minutes before Button put McLaren back in front with a 1m28.280s lap, which remained the best of the session.
Webber then took second from Vettel, but the afternoon came to a worrying end for Red Bull as the Australian came to a halt on track five minutes from the end, with wisps of smoke from the car's rear. While he neatly reversed the car back behind the barriers, Vettel was already expressing concern over his water pressure via the radio, giving the championship-leading team cause for some reliability anxiety.
Hamilton remained fourth until the end, with Fernando Alonso bringing Ferrari up to fifth by the chequered flag after a low-key start to the afternoon.
Mercedes was sixth and seventh, Nico Rosberg ahead of Michael Schumacher this time, followed by the Renaults and Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari.
Turn 8 continued to cause headaches for drivers. Tonio Liuzzi caught a high-speed half-spin at the long, fast corner without emulating his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil's morning impact with the barriers.
Three-time Istanbul winner Massa had a few early scares at Turn 8 too, before later snapping into a wild slide that - like Liuzzi - he caught just before it turned into a full spin, though his long sideways drift still ruined his soft tyres.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.280 30 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:28.378 + 0.098 24 3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:28.590 + 0.310 26 4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.672 + 0.392 32 5. Alonso Ferrari 1:28.725 + 0.445 30 6. Rosberg Mercedes 1:28.914 + 0.634 22 7. Schumacher Mercedes 1:28.974 + 0.694 22 8. Kubica Renault 1:29.225 + 0.945 34 9. Petrov Renault 1:29.501 + 1.221 36 10. Massa Ferrari 1:29.620 + 1.340 26 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:29.629 + 1.349 16 12. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:29.987 + 1.707 17 13. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:30.053 + 1.773 34 14. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:30.176 + 1.896 34 15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:30.386 + 2.106 32 16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:30.627 + 2.347 28 17. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:30.766 + 2.486 32 18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:30.933 + 2.653 37 19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:31.610 + 3.330 37 20. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:33.013 + 4.733 28 21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:33.081 + 4.801 11 22. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:33.312 + 5.032 29 23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:33.420 + 5.140 35 24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:33.740 + 5.460 25 All Timing Unofficial
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