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Schumacher tops Jerez testing

Michael Schumacher set the fastest time of the second day of testing at Jerez for Mercedes

The run on which Schumacher did the best lap was not a drastically low fuel run - at least not less than 10 laps.

But it still was not a complete turnaround for Mercedes because, despite the fastest time, it took a lot of laps for his times to stabilise - and when they did they were around a second slower than where Red Bull was on similar runs.

Felipe Massa was the only other driver to get into the 1m20s. The Ferrari was posting 1m21s at the beginning of eight-lap stints earlier in the day.

The times indicated the team was working on heavier fuel loads in the afternoon when his longer run times were between 1m26s and 1m28s. It once again ended the day with the most laps completed, 116.

McLaren made a slow start to the second day with the MP4-26, still working on system checks and installation runs throughout the morning. Jenson Button was on track more in the afternoon but still did not run for more than six laps at a time.

Button's times trickled down from the 1m23s, through the 22s and into the 21s a few times this afternoon.

Jaime Alguersuari was fourth-fastest for Toro Rosso, with his best time coming at the start of one of two 10-lap runs around lunchtime. Both of those began in the 1m21s and held steady in the 22s until the final lap.

The Spaniard caused one of the day's red flags by spinning off at Turn 9, then was back to working on shorter runs in the afternoon.

It was another quiet day for Red Bull, with Mark Webber once again producing impressive long-run times without setting any headline-grabbing single laps.

The RB7's best time came in a three-lap burst, but he was only a couple of tenths slower than that on a longer run later on. But it was the 19-lap run largely in the 1m24s that highlighted the potential - as nobody else was able to lap consistently at that pace on such a long stint.

Sauber did a lot of laps today, but never more than five at a time. Sergio Perez almost always began his stints in the 1m22s and dropped away through the 1m23s.

The Mexican cut his team's day short by crashing between Turns 7 and 8 and damaging the front end of the Sauber C30.

Force India stuck to mainly short runs on the second day out for the VJM04, with Adrian Sutil mainly in the 1m23s and 24s.

Renault did not grab too much attention with Vitaly Petrov also sticking mainly to short bursts. There was a big variation in his times throughout the day, but at best he settled into 1m23s.

He was another to cause a red flag by spinning - his coming at Turn 2 mid-way through the morning.

Pastor Maldonado went one step further and provoked a stoppage by crashing his Williams at the exit of Turn 4 with around 75 minutes remaining. He went through the gravel trap and into the wall, damaging the front and rear of the car.

The team had already lost a significant amount of running when it stripped and reassembled the KERS as a precaution following a warning from the unit in the morning. Maldonado had only done two laps after rejoining when he crashed.

Virgin Racing did some longer running around lunchtime, before Timo Glock set his best time of 1m22.208s to grab eighth place in the final half-hour.

Lotus was able to do some longer runs in the morning, with Jarno Trulli consistent in the 1m23s and 24s on the soft tyre. But it did not reappear in the afternoon due to an unspecified mechanical problem which requires spare parts from its UK base.

Pos  Driver              Car                   Time       Gap       Laps
 1.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m20.352s            112
 2.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m20.413s  + 0.061s  116
 3.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m21.009s  + 0.657s  69
 4.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m21.214s  + 0.862s  72
 5.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m21.613s  + 1.261s  113
 6.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1m21.780s  + 1.428s  73
 7.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m21.857s  + 1.505s  56
 8.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m22.208s  + 1.856s  57
 9.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m22.493s  + 2.141s  65
10.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth     1m22.591s  + 2.239s  38
11.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Renault         1m23.216s  + 2.864s  40

All timing unofficial

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