India – Free Practice 2: Vettel Drives the Point Home

The sky is still slightly overcast at the start of the second practice session of the day, but the mercury shows 30 degrees in the air and 38 for the track at this Buddh circuit.

Quickly, the drivers start setting times. Notably, Sergio Pérez has taken back the wheel of the Sauber after lending his seat to his compatriot Estéban Gutiérrez this morning. After the first quarter-hour, it’s Alonso who leads, ahead of his main championship rival, Vettel, and Webber. The Spaniard sets a time of 1:27.785. The Ferrari driver improves by 3 tenths a few minutes later as Hamilton had posted a 1:27.762.

Felipe Massa, who has been renewed by Scuderia, performs a little stunt at the exit of turn 11 by climbing too much on the curb. But no damage to the F2012 except for a flat spot on the front tire. The Brazilian is imitated a few moments later by Romain Grosjean, who finds himself stopped in the middle of the track, but once again, it’s more fear than harm as the Frenchman resumes without issue.

With a little less than an hour remaining, Vettel takes charge and moves ahead of Alonso with a time of 1:27.256.

The Indian circuit has some tricky corners like the sequence of turns 6 and 7 where Hamilton goes off onto the grass.

Mid-session, Vettel is still in first position ahead of Alonso and Hamilton. Also noteworthy is the strong performance of Bruno Senna, in 4th place, but especially Ricciardo who is in seventh. Jean-Eric Vergne is lagging behind in 16th place. Kimi Räikkönen, equipped with soft tires, improves his time and position, the Finn moves to 3rd. Iceman further improves on the next lap and knocks Vettel off the top spot. Other drivers are putting on Pirelli soft tires and also improving their times. This is the case for Romain Grosjean, for example, who moves into 3rd position. Nico Rosberg also makes a mark by overtaking Räikkönen by 8 milliseconds, while Felipe Massa takes another off-track excursion.

Alonso and Vettel are also on track after an aborted first attempt. The Ferrari driver takes the lead with a 1:26.964, but Vettel almost immediately responds with a 1:26.921. Alonso doesn’t back down and improves again, but Webber snatches the second spot from the Spaniard before being overtaken by Vettel with a 1:26.221. The RB8 seems very competitive, although it’s too soon to write off Ferrari.

The last half-hour is dedicated to longer stints with a full tank of fuel, and the lap times are therefore affected, with laps around 1:33, 1:32.

The session ends with the best time for Sebastian Vettel ahead of Webber and Alonso. Rosberg and Räikkönen complete the Top 5.

Free Practice 2 Results of the 2012 Indian Grand Prix: