Ricciardo fastest in second practice

The Red Bull Formula 1 reserve driver enters this final round of the season just three points behind Carlin's Aleshin, with a potential 30 points on offer over the weekend.

"I think it is a good margin," said Ricciardo, "but I am never entirely satisfied when I know there is more time in the car; even though sometimes it is very difficult to extract it.

"This morning we were on very old tyres and I was worried that I wasn't learning anything. But [team boss] Simon [Abadie] kept saying to me, 'don't worry, the car will feel different on new tyres, we have to work for the weekend.' He was right, but at the time I was getting a bit excited."

Monegasque Stefano Coletti was third fastest for Comtec, while Junior Lotus Racing's Nelson Panciatici repeated his competitive showing from the morning to take fourth.

The opening session pacesetter, and final championship contender, Esteban Guerrieri finished fifth for ISR, but remained optimistic over his prospects.

"The car is good on high downforce," said Guerrieri. "We had one lap on new tyres and found a good balance, and usually when the balance is good we go well. There were a few things we wanted to try with the low downforce set-up in the afternoon, but unfortunately because there were so many red flags we didn't get a chance to do everything. Still, running on used tyres, I was quite happy with the time.

"I am not spending time worrying about pressure, or my rivals, that's just wasted energy. However, I am not stupid and I like to keep an eye on the others just for reference. That is not anything special or because it is the last race, though, I do that throughout the season. This weekend we have to go for it. It is like any sport, you have to push if you want to develop."

Formula 2 champion Dean Stoneman used high downforce to end the afternoon 10th, an excellent adaption to the category on his debut appearance.

"Because the Formula 2 car is turbocharged, you need to spool up the turbo before the corner," explained Stoneman, who is driving for Junior Lotus this weekend. "With this car, I have found I am up picking up the throttle too early, and then it is actually costing me more time down the straight as I have had to back off. The car also has so much aero that I am still exploring how much to push in the corners.

"But I've only driven it for an hour and half now. I drove the car in Pembrey before coming here, but it wasn't even a shakedown, it was just learning how to pull away and make sure I was comfortable.

"I am pleased to be here before doing the Williams F1 test [in Abu Dhabi]. I am going to Abu Dhabi next week to race in a three-day Radical Festival. At least then I will have some experience of the circuit, although of course I am sure it is going to be very different in the Formula 1 car."

Pos  Driver             Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Daniel Ricciardo   Tech 1           1m34.896s
 2.  Mikhail Aleshin    Carlin           1m35.350s  + 0.454s
 3.  Stefano Coletti    Comtec           1m35.409s  + 0.513s
 4.  Nelson Panciatici  Junior Lotus     1m35.517s  + 0.621s
 5.  Esteban Guerrieri  ISR              1m35.674s  + 0.778s
 6.  Daniel Zampieri    Pons             1m35.675s  + 0.779s
 7.  Nathanael Berthon  Draco            1m35.685s  + 0.789s
 8.  Julian Leal        Draco            1m35.858s  + 0.962s
 9.  Jon Lancaster      Fortec           1m35.892s  + 0.996s
10.  Dean Stoneman      Junior Lotus     1m35.918s  + 1.022s
11.  Anton Nebylitskiy  KMP              1m36.226s  + 1.330s
12.  Albert Costa       Epsilon Euskadi  1m36.335s  + 1.439s
13.  Sten Pentus        Fortec           1m36.337s  + 1.441s
14.  Jan Charouz        P1               1m36.523s  + 1.627s
15.  Filip Salaquarda   ISR              1m36.565s  + 1.669s
16.  Walter Grubmuller  P1               1m36.713s  + 1.817s
17.  Salvador Duran     FHV Interwetten  1m36.714s  + 1.818s
18.  Federico Leo       Pons             1m36.843s  + 1.947s
19.  Victor Garcia      KMP              1m36.890s  + 1.994s
20.  Jake Rosenzweig    Carlin           1m37.011s  + 2.115s
21.  Greg Mansell       Comtec           1m37.088s  + 2.192s
22.  Keisuke Kunimoto   Epsilon Euskadi  1m37.093s  + 2.197s
23.  Sergio Canamasas   FHV Interwetten  1m37.524s  + 2.628s