Mansell praises drivers' approach

Due to a suspected problem with bearing lubrication in the engines, some of the cars' power units have gone back to their manufacturer Nicholson McLaren to be rebuilt, limiting the number of cars available to the series today.

Only six cars took part in today's morning practice, and seven cars in the afternoon session.

The 15 masters shared the cars, which Mansell believes was the fairest thing to do to not give anybody an advantage ahead of tomorrow's qualifying session.

"We've been very professional here today, we've all had limited running," Mansell said, who recorded the fastest lap of the day.

"This morning I only had one timed lap, because we've all agreed that it would be unfair to allow some people more time than others. By tomorrow everyone will have caught up with one another. Emmo [Fittipaldi] got his car really hooked up today.

"It's hard to just switch it on in a couple of days when you haven't driven in anger for a few months. I haven't raced competitively since Qatar. Yesterday I had a tough time with myself, but today it's a little bit easier."

Fittipaldi did reveal however why he believed he was able to record such a quick time, which was good enough for second fastest.

"I've grown back my sideburns, so hopefully this will deliver some extra speed as well as style," he said. "It's great to be back racing in England. This is where I started my career and it's like my second home."

Second free practice times:

Pos  Driver                  Time
 1.  Nigel Mansell       1:37.522
 2.  Emerson Fittipaldi  1:37.602
 3.  Stefan Johansson    1:37.836
 4.  Riccardo Patrese    1:38.148
 5.  Eddie Cheever       1:38.560
 6.  Eric van de Poele   1:38.954
 7.  Hans-Joachim Stuck  1:41.142