Red Bull began to tighten their grip on the Indian Grand Prix on Friday afternoon, as Sebastian Vettel finished FP2 at the Buddh International Circuit 0.118s clear of team mate Mark Webber, who was in turn 0.599s ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
This session was perhaps a little less instructive than this morning's, as some teams spent more time honing long-distance set-ups than on setting fast times. But the signs are there that it could be hard to beat the cars from Milton Keynes. Vettel ended the session with 1m 26.221s, with Webber on 1m 26.339s, as Alonso trailed on 1m 26.820s.
Nico Rosberg put Mercedes fourth with 1m 27.022s, as Kimi Raikkonen brought Lotus into play with 1m 27.030s. Lewis Hamilton was McLaren's better runner in sixth with 1m 27.131s, as Jenson Button made a late improvement to 1m 27.182s behind him, but Hamilton is believed to have had the best pace on high fuel which bodes well for the teams race chances.
Behind them, Nico Hulkenberg put Force India into eighth place with 1m 27.233s despite a spin in Turn Nine and another minor off, and Romain Grosjean (a half spinner) and Bruno Senna (a rotator in Turn Three) completed the Top 10 with 1m 27.397s and 1m 27.738s for Lotus and Williams respectively.
Paul di Resta chased his Force India team mate with 1m 28.004s for 11th, ahead of the returned Sergio Perez on 1m 28.178s for Sauber. Then came Merecdes' Michael Schumacher on 1m 28.222s from Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo on 1m 28.239s, Ferrari's Felipe Massa on 1m 28.296s, Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi on 1m 28.455s and Williams' Pastor Maldonado on 1m 28.596s. The Brazilian had a tough time, with spins in his own Massa Curves (Turn Nine) and then Turn 12, while the Japanese driver struggled with the balance of his Sauber.
Jean-Eric Vergne was 18th with 1m 29.167s for Toro Rosso, chased by the Caterhams of Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov on 1m 29.320s and 1m 29.606s apiece, as Pedro de la Rosa rediscovered his mojo to lap his HRT in 1m 30.950s. Timo Glock reasserted himself at Marussia with 1m 31.113s to head HRT's Narain Karthikeyan on 1m 31.372s and team mate Charles Pic on 1m 31.493s. (Formula1.com)
FP2: Red Bull Racing rules opening day in India
- Published on 26 Oct 2012 13:10
-
0
- By: Rob Veenstra
F1 News
Fernando Alonso
Jenson Button
Felipe Massa
Romain Grosjean
Pastor Maldonado
Daniel Ricciardo
Lewis Hamilton
Nico Rosberg
Sebastian Vettel
Sergio Perez
McLaren
Force India
Ferrari
Lotus F1
Mercedes
Sauber
Williams
Marussia
HRT
.
Trending news
-
Why Ralf Schumacher believes Piastri is no longer a team leader candidateOscar Piastri has become McLaren's second driver following a difficult start to the 2026 season, according to Ral...
27 Aug 2026 16:19 -
Why Coulthard thinks Lawson proved his doubters wrong at ZandvoortLiam Lawson has earned high praise from former Red Bull driver David Coulthard after filling in for the senior team a...
27 Aug 2026 15:18 -
Antonelli reveals emotional moment racing childhood hero VerstappenAndrea Kimi Antonelli has admitted he fought back tears the first time he raced wheel-to-wheel against Max Verstappen...
27 Aug 2026 14:16 -
Why McLaren's Stella doesn't believe Mercedes money excuseAndrea Stella expects Mercedes to accelerate its development programme imminently, despite Toto Wolff's insistenc...
27 Aug 2026 13:15 -
Why Red Bull keeps turning to Lawson during Hadjar's recoveryLiam Lawson has been handed additional track time by Red Bull Racing, completing a day of Pirelli tyre testing at Mug...
27 Aug 2026 12:13
Dutch Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Dutch Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
Test calendar
Circuit de Catalunya - Winter testing
-
Jan 26
I. Hadjar
- 1:18.159
-
-
-
Jan 27
M. Verstappen
- 1:19.578
-
-
-
Jan 28
A. Antonelli
- 1:17.362
-
-
-
Jan 29
G. Russell
- 1:16.445
-
-
-
Jan 30
L. Hamilton
- 1:16.348
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 11
L. Norris
- 1:34.669
-
-
-
Feb 12
C. Leclerc
- 1:34.273
-
-
-
Feb 13
A. Antonelli
- 1:33.669
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 18
G. Russell
- 1:33.459
-
-
Feb 19
A. Antonelli
- 1:32.803
-
-
Feb 20
C. Leclerc
- 1:31.992
-
-
World Championship standings 2026
Pos
Driver
Team
Points
Pos
Team
Points
Related news
Give your opinion!
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
-
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
26 - Jun 28
Austria
Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
17 - Jul 19
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
21 - Aug 23
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Driver profile
- Team Aston Martin
- Points 631
- Podiums 9
- Grand Prix 204
- Country Spain
- Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (45)
- Place of b. Oviedo, Spain
- Weight 68 kg
- Length 1.71 m
- 188,103 comments on Aston Martin
78 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Fernando Alonso
Team profile
- Team name McLaren
- Base Woking, United Kingdom
- Jenson Button 1
- Lewis Hamilton 1
- Fernando Alonso 1
- Niki Lauda 1
- Stoffel Vandoorne 2
- Lewis Hamilton 2
- Lewis Hamilton 2
- Gerhard Berger 2
- Daniel Ricciardo 3
- Jenson Button 3
- Lewis Hamilton 3
- Kimi Räikkönen 3
- Mika Häkkinen 3
- Lando Norris 4
- Lewis Hamilton 4
- Jenson Button 4
- Kimi Räikkönen 4
- Jenson Button 5
- Sergio Perez 6
- Kimi Räikkönen 6
- Kimi Räikkönen 6
- Niki Lauda 8
- Alain Prost 8
- Kimi Räikkönen 9
- Fernando Alonso 14
- Kevin Magnussen 20
- Jenson Button 22
- Lewis Hamilton 22
- Gerhard Berger 28
- Stoffel Vandoorne 47
- Carlos Sainz jr 55
- Oscar Piastri 81
- 306,982 comments on McLaren
- 162 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about McLaren
Replies (0)
Login to reply