FP2: Red Bull Racing rules opening day in India

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Published on 26 Oct 2012 13:10
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By: Rob Veenstra

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)

F1 News Fernando Alonso Jenson Button Felipe Massa Romain Grosjean Pastor Maldonado Daniel Ricciardo Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Sebastian Vettel Sergio Perez Lotus F1 Mercedes Sauber Williams McLaren Force India Ferrari Marussia HRT