Vettel assumes top perch after Practice 2
Sebastian Vettel pips Fernando Alonso in P2
Sebastien Vettel has claimed the top spot after the second practice session in the lead-up to the Spanish Grand Prix at the Catalunya circuit.
After Red Bull played it low-key in the opening session which was marred by wet conditions, Vettel emerged with the best time after the second 90-minute session.
The world champion recorded a 1:22.808s around the 4.655km circuit, a mere .017s faster than Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari after the Spaniard went quickest in the opening practice run.
Australian Mark Webber was only .083s back in third in a closely matched session among the top runners with the Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso’s Ferrari sidekick Felipe Massa fifth.
Many of the teams elected to perform race simulations on the soft and hard compound Pirelli rubber during the run.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were sixth and seventh in their Mercedes with Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne splitting the Force India’s of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta with the eighth best time.
There was no immediate joy for the McLaren team with Jenson Button and Sergio Perez finishing 12th and 13th fastest. Button was 1.4s slower than Vettel while Perez’s best was 2s down.
The MP4-28 Mercedes-powered McLaren are sporting considerable changes including a completely new nose.
Practice 2
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1:22.808s |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:22.825s |
| 3 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:22.891s |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1:23.030s |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:23.110s |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:23.140s |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:23.398s |
| 8 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:23.840s |
| 9 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:24.058s |
| 10 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:24.104s |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:24.175s |
| 12 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:24.306s |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:24.854s |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:24.888s |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:25.167s |
| 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:25.321s |
| 17 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:25.441s |
| 18 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:25.851s |
| 19 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1:25.963s |
| 20 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:26.078s |
| 21 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1:26.930s |
| 22 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:26.970s |