South Korea – Free Practice 2: Vettel Leads Red Bull 1-2

The sun is still shining above the Yeongam circuit for the second practice session of the South Korean Grand Prix. All the regular drivers are back behind the wheel after some had given up their seats to their team’s third driver. Petrov, Karthikeyan, Hülkenberg, and Senna are taking their first laps of the day.

Lewis Hamilton is the first to take to the track, followed by Kimi Räikkönen, whose Lotus is equipped with new Coanda effect exhausts. While many drivers are on the track, Hamilton sets the first time of this second session with 1:41.851 on soft tires (for Korea, Pirelli offers the soft (yellow) and super-soft (red) compounds from its range). This early session is dedicated to short stints. Paul di Resta improves Hamilton’s time by more than a second with 1:40.331, while Vettel is two-tenths behind the Scotsman. Both men are quickly outpaced by Schumacher, who breaks the 1:40 barrier.

At HRT and Marussia, the mechanics are put to work. The Spanish team is changing the rear wing of Pedro de la Rosa’s car while at Marussia, they are working on the steering of Pic’s car.

Jean-Eric Vergne is the first to hit the track with super-soft tires, allowing him to climb to 13th position in the standings. The French driver is quickly imitated by his colleagues.

After 40 minutes of testing, Sergio Pérez abandoned his Sauber at the side of the track a few minutes after complaining about a DRS issue to his pit wall.

In the mid-session, it’s Vettel who holds the best time with a lap completed in 1:39.089. He is ahead of his teammate – Mark Webber – and Jenson Button. On the McLaren side, work is being done on the rear and the flat floor of the MP4-27.

Despite their efforts, Vettel’s opponents cannot dislodge him from his first place. With 30 minutes remaining in the session, only Webber seems capable of challenging his teammate’s leadership. The Australian concedes only 32 hundredths to the double world champion. Jenson Button, currently third, is relegated to 3 tenths behind the Red Bull.

As is traditionally the case, the late afternoon is dedicated to longer relays, and the rankings are no longer shaken up, even though Fernando Alonso makes his way into the Top 3 behind the two Red Bulls. Vettel is the fastest in the first sector, but in the second, it’s Webber who has the advantage.

In the last minutes, Lewis Hamilton performs a nice tire burnout at the first braking. The Brit is only eighth, 0.5 seconds behind Jenson Button and 0.8 seconds behind Vettel. The 2008 champion is mimicked on the next run by Felipe Massa, in 6th place.

At the end of the 90 minutes of this free practice session, it is Vettel who leads the standings with a 1.38.832 ahead of Webber, Alonso, Button, and Schumacher.

Results of Free Practice 2 of the 2012 South Korean Grand Prix: