Alonso Tops Second Practice in Valencia

Fernando Alonso may have had a low-profile run in the first practice session on Friday, but it was all worth it as it brought a smile on everyone's faces – we mean the people in the grandstands – at the end of the 90-minute action in the afternoon. The Spaniard closed the FP2 with the best time of 1:39.283, some 0.056 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

For a team who publicly feared the European Grand Prix at Valencia, Red Bull was not all that bad, as both Vettel and teammate Mark Webber finished the second practice session within 0.144 seconds off Alonso's pace. Considering that Ferrari have brought a completely revised F10 in Spain, we'd say that's an impressive accomplishment.

Mercedes GP's Nico Rosberg, the pace setter for the first practice session on Friday, had to settle for the 4th spot, ahead of McLaren Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton. Following the 2008 F1 champion was Renault's Robert Kubica, while the second Ferrari F10 driven by Felipe Massa was only able to score the 7th fastest time.

The Brazilian driver had a 30-minute period of time of inactivity on the Valencia street circuit, as his early spin at the exit of Turn 4 led to his car stalling in the middle of the track. He was actually the only driver to trigger a red flag on Friday afternoon, as his Ferrari F10 was taken to the pits later on so he could resume practice.

The Top 10 was completed by Force India's Adrian Sutil, McLaren's Jenson Button and Williams' Rubens Barrichello. All the Top 10 finishers ended FP2 within one second, while 11th placed Michael Schumacher was the first driver more than one second behind Alonso.

01. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)                                      1:39.283
02. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault)                       1:39.339
03. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault)                           1:39.427
04. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)                                      1:39.650
05. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)                     1:39.749
06. Robert Kubica (Renault)                                         1:39.880
07. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)                                            1:39.947
08. Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)                       1:40.020
09. Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes)                      1:40.029
10. Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth)                1:40.174
11. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)                           1:40.287
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India-Mercedes)               1:40.387
13. Vitaly Petrov (Renault)                                            1:40.618
14. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari)                         1:40.906
15. Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber-Ferrari)                          1:40.945
16. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)                    1:41.115
17. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams-Cosworth)                     1:41.371
18. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)                  1:41.457
19. Kamui Kovalainen (Lotus-Cosworth)                       1:42.467
20. Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Cosworth)                                  1:42.993
21. Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth)                                 1:43.811
22. Lucas di Grassi (Virgin-Cosworth)                           1:43.854
23. Bruno Senna (HRT-Cosworth)                                1:44.095
24. Karun Chandhok (HRT-Cosworth)                          1:44.566