Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel posted the fastest time ahead of archrival Fernando Alonso in the second practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix yesterday.
Alonso had the best time in the rain-affected first session, where Vettel drove more cautiously, but the Spaniard finished .017 seconds behind the German as sunshine bathed the Circuit de Catalunya for most of the afternoon’s run.
Vettel clocked 1 minute, 22.808 seconds — considerably faster than the 1:25.252 Alonso managed for Ferrari in the morning run.
Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was third quickest and the Australian was .083 behind, with Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen fourth-fastest in his Lotus.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was in fifth place with 1:23.110, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in sixth place after posting 1:23.140.
Today’s qualifying promises to be highly competitive, with the top six in second practice separated by .332 seconds.
Nico Rosberg was seventh in his Mercedes with a time of 1:23.398, followed by Adrian Sutil of Force India in 1:23.840.
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