Raikkonen stays on top in practice 2
Kimi Raikkonen remained on top in the second Friday practice session at Catalunya, with the two Renaults completing an unusual top three
The title contenders concentrated on heavier fuel loads for much of the afternoon, and Raikkonen's session-topping time was a full 1.3 seconds slower than he had managed this morning.
His Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa was fifth fastest, while the two McLarens were only 11th and 16th.
The teams' differing strategies meant that the timing screens had an unusual look throughout, with Force India holding first and second positions for the first 40 minutes - Adrian Sutil leading the way initially before being beaten by teammate Giancarlo Fisichella.
David Coulthard (Red Bull) ended their moment of glory by lapping in 1:22.321, 0.062 seconds quicker than Fisichella's benchmark, as the session neared its halfway point.
Ten minutes later, Williams took a one-two, with first Nico Rosberg, then Kazuki Nakajima going fastest of all.
Then with 27 minutes remaining, Fernando Alonso hit the front, to the delight of the Spanish fans in the grandstands.
His 1:22.034 lap was 0.138 seconds clear of Nakajima's previous best, but was beaten within 12 minutes by his own teammate Nelson Piquet, who lapped 0.015 seconds faster. Although Alonso subsequently improved his time, he only closed the gap by 0.002 seconds.
Renault then held the top two places until the final four minutes, when Raikkonen moved ahead with a 1:21.935 lap, 0.084 seconds quicker than Piquet.
McLaren did not feature amongst the lead runners. Hamilton had a spin at Turn 10 on his first run, and ended the day in 11th. He then came to a halt in the pit entry on his final lap of the session.
His teammate Heikki Kovalainen managed just eight laps. A gearbox problem kept the Finn in the McLaren garage for most of the first hour, and when he did take to the track, he only completed a handful of laps before his car slowed and came to a halt on the way out of Turn 6.
Behind Raikkonen, Piquet and Alonso, Nakajima held on to fourth place for Williams, with Massa fifth and 0.2 seconds slower than Raikkonen.
Mark Webber and David Coulthard took sixth and eighth for Red Bull, split by Rosberg, while the two Force Indias were shuffled down the order as others improved, but secured the final top ten positions.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:21.935 38 2. Piquet Renault (B) 1:22.019 + 0.084 38 3. Alonso Renault (B) 1:22.032 + 0.097 26 4. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.172 + 0.237 35 5. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:22.229 + 0.294 32 6. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.238 + 0.303 36 7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.266 + 0.331 33 8. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.289 + 0.354 30 9. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:22.383 + 0.448 38 10. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:22.548 + 0.613 38 11. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.685 + 0.750 33 12. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:22.788 + 0.853 38 13. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:23.130 + 1.195 40 14. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:23.224 + 1.289 34 15. Button Honda (B) 1:23.263 + 1.328 34 16. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:23.264 + 1.329 8 17. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:23.415 + 1.480 31 18. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.661 + 1.726 35 19. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.684 + 1.749 37 20. Glock Toyota (B) 1:23.883 + 1.948 40 21. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:25.110 + 3.175 30 22. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:25.163 + 3.228 31
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