Lewis Hamilton continued his dominance in Malaysia, as the McLaren driver once again topped the second practice session for this weekend’s Grand Prix.
The British driver was the first frontrunner to set a time in the session and soon eclipsed his practice one efforts, as he rocketed into the low 1m34s.
However, Hamilton did not enjoy a trouble-free session as, once on the option tyres, the 25-year-old complained about the quality of the tyre.
Hamilton was not alone however, with team-mate Jenson Button (4th) complaining of a lack of rear end stability and understeer. Meanwhile the option tyre was also responsible for a number of incidens during the session with the likes of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi forced off the circuit as the back end of their Toro Rosso’s stepping out.
Sandwiched between the two McLarens were Sebastian Vettel, who improved from his lowly position in the first session, and Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes.
Sadly, the former’s team-mate raised more question marks over the reliability of the Red Bull, as Mark Webber was forced to park his car less than half way into the session, with another suspected engine failure.
Both Ferrari drivers appeared to settle for long-fuel runs, but Fernando Alonso did set a quick time once he had choosen the option tyres. But, while the Spaniard was seventh Massa’s attempt was disappointing, with the Brazilian having to settle for fifteenth.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Hamilton McLaren 1:34.175 27 2. Vettel Red Bull 1:34.441 + 0.266 28 3. Rosberg Mercedes 1:34.443 + 0.268 30 4. Button McLaren 1:34.538 + 0.363 24 5. Schumacher Mercedes 1:34.674 + 0.499 30 6. Kubica Renault 1:35.148 + 0.973 34 7. Alonso Ferrari 1:35.581 + 1.406 34 8. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:35.660 + 1.485 39 9. Petrov Renault 1:35.872 + 1.697 20 10. Sutil Force India 1:35.957 + 1.782 32 11. Kobayashi Sauber 1:36.018 + 1.843 38 12. Liuzzi Force India 1:36.221 + 2.046 34 13. de la Rosa Sauber 1:36.325 + 2.150 33 14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:36.325 + 2.150 39 15. Massa Ferrari 1:36.602 + 2.427 30 16. Barrichello Williams 1:36.813 + 2.638 26 17. Hulkenberg Williams 1:37.415 + 3.240 19 18. Trulli Lotus 1:38.454 + 4.279 34 19. Kovalainen Lotus 1:38.530 + 4.355 32 20. Webber Red Bull 1:38.786 + 4.558 13 21. Glock Virgin 1:39.061 + 4.886 23 22. di Grassi Virgin 1:39.158 + 4.983 29 23. Chandhok HRT 1:41.084 + 6.909 27 24. Senna HRT 1:41.481 + 7.306 32
