GP – Free Practice 2: Hamilton … still stronger

The McLaren of Lewis Hamilton was once again the fastest during the second practice session at Hockenheim. This time, he beat a Ferrari by more than six-tenths of a second in dry conditions.

Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen are in second and third positions ahead of Hamilton’s teammate, Heikki Kovalainen.

After the morning rain, the second session was perfectly dry and consequently calmer than the one that took place in the wet conditions that same morning.

The 2007 runner-up was neck and neck with Sébastien Bourdais’ Toro Rosso on his first run and set a benchmark time of 1’15”817. This time proved good enough for Hamilton to stay ahead for a good part of the session.

Massa was getting closer and closer to the McLaren’s time. However, after 50 minutes of testing, he still beat that time with a lap of 1’15”722. Hamilton responded with a 1:15.739, which was not quite enough to beat the Ferrari.

But in his last laps of the afternoon, the Briton proved to be much more productive by setting a time of 1’15”025 and clearly putting 0.697 seconds ahead of Massa.

Räikkönen was aiming for the best time but was slower in one sector. He is third ahead of Kovalainen.

Mark Webber clinches a promising fifth place for Red Bull on his final lap. Having already been delayed by a clutch problem in the pits and then by a small adventure in the gravel at the last corner, his tires proved effective in the last seconds, relegating Fernando Alonso (Renault) to sixth place.

Nico Rosberg’s Williams is seventh, ahead of the two BMWs, with Robert Kubica, who has recovered well from his morning accident, in front of Nick Heidfeld. David Coulthard enters the top ten with the second Red Bull.

Sebastian Vettel was quick during the first third of the session but eventually dropped to 11th place. His teammate Bourdais again lost mileage due to technical issues and is 18th.

In great serenity, Timo Glock took a trip through the grass while Rubens Barrichello in the Honda went straight through the first corner.