Good afternoon and welcome back for the second free practice session. No shortage of action earlier, but can Ferrari gets its act together and will McLaren and Mercedes continue to dominate? In the meantime, if you have any questions you want to send us, click here

	Sebastien Buemi walks away from his crash © Getty Images

Drivers all of a Twitter … Heikki Kovalainen: "No major issues, bit of tyre degradation due to very dusty track but it will improve during the afternoon." Bruno Senna: "This is the lowest grip I've ever had in my life!" Lucas di Grassi: "My first time around, China track looks OK but very bumpy and very dirty at the moment."

A great picture to show you what the photographers do to get those great close-up shots

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A few questions about Alonso - Ali Khan emails: "What happened to Alonso's Ferrari during FP1, was it an engine failure? What are the reactions of Ferrari" Yes, his engine blew. It was the one replaced in Bahrain so it was a test of sorts to see how it might hold up. It look a third of a lap to find out. The team have been working hard through the break to fit one of the new ones.

"What's the status of Alonso's engines? Will he be on his 3rd or 4th engine for FP2?" asks Rex. Its two down, six to go.

There's a little bit more wind, according to the HRT radio, and a tail wind down the straight. Chandhok is the first out

Buemi is fine - the initial shock has gone. The crash was caused by a failure of the front-right upright - the piece of carbon fibre which connects the wheel to the front suspension - which overloaded the left-hand one, causing it to break as well. The team are confident it's a one-off

"Today, we saw that one of Sebastian Buemi's wheel ending up in spectator's gallery. Luckily nothing untoward happened. Question is, is it advisable for curious spectators to touch these wheels with bare hands? Won't they be very hot?" asks Jan Visser. The heat in the tyres dissipates quickly and they wouldn't be dangerously hot. Other parts of debris might well be though.

Ferrari: "Fernando just completed his installation lap after the engine change. This unit is the one used in the winning race in Bahrain."

Jaime Alguersuari 1:38.091 is the fastest to date but that's a lot slower than Button this morning

The majority of cars sitting in the garages as they wait for the lower-end teams to lay down rubber. All a bit uninspiring for the fans that have turned up, but that's the nature of the game

But as we talk out come the McLarens

Hamilton sets 1:36.639, Button gets baulked on his run but is still second fastest. Early days

Steve emails and asks how many people are in the venue. Depressing stuff, Steve. It holds 200,000 - or did before they converted some stands into advertising hoardings - and there are no more than 2000 all told watching

Button sets 1:36.206, Hamilton responds with 1:36.033

Senna, who was complaining about grip during the break, goes off at the end of the straight. Simply not enough grip to allow him to stay on, and he's going to have another tough weekend

Carl asks why there is a race in Shanghai if nobody comes. Simple, Carl. Bernie and his money men want to break the lucrative China market. As ever, it's about cash. As someone just said, if this was Europe or Australia or many other places, there'd be tens if not a hundred thousand watching today. But money is what drives this sport and too often the fans are the last things on the minds of those in charge

Kubica 1:37.134 to go fifth

Rosberg goes fastest with 1:36.019. Over to you, Michael

Rosberg goes ever faster with 1:35.674, the first sub 1:36 of the day

Petrov 1:37.374, ninth fastest

Jaime Alguersuari 1:36.377 fourth fastest on the soft tyres

Virgin: "Timo reporting improvements in the handling, but still looking for more improvements."

Kobayashi records 312kph in the speed trap

di Grassi completes a lap almost ten seconds off the pace. Hard, hard work for the backrunners

Liyan emails: "I think your comparison to Europe for Friday attendance is a bit unfair. I have tickets to the Shanghai race, but I can't attend Friday practice because I actually have work. I will be there for Saturday and Sunday. Still, my grandstand seats, the cheapest I can get at 880 RMB per seat, would represent a big chunk of the average Chinese's monthly income. There is quite a lot of interest in F1 here, it's just not that many can afford to go. Once Chinese income goes up, so will attendance. In the meantime, just having a race in China would be a positive for the attention of future generations; if F1 doesn't maintain a presence, then when people actually have the money, they won't look to following F1 as a wise way to spend it." Good points well made. It has to be said that the marketing has also been poor. And surely this raises the question ... why not open the gates and let people in for nothing? The tickets for the race will still be top dollar, but it would get far more people interested and give an atmosphere. What do you think ... click here

Button sets a sector fastest time ...

Button's time is 1:36.206, about half a second down on Rosberg

"Wouldn't the F-Duct be a moveable aerodynamic device and so illegal," asks Keith Younce. And therein likes another debate altogether. The FIA have examined it and ruled it legal, so who are we to say otherwise

Alonso out on soft tyres

Now, here's Schumacher. If he could post a faster time than his team-mate it would help silence rumbles

Andrew Carter emails: "They actually do let people in for free,, last year they were bringing bus loads of children in for free this will obviously make them interested in the future."

Schumacher seventh fastest and into the pits

Letting the fans in for free will sure boost attendance but Bernie will never agree!" says Jackson Lim. Surely you're not saying money is Bernie's only reason for staging races in certain places?

Poor time from Alonso, three seconds off the pace but he did go onto the grass

"Because giving things away for free sets a precedent that is hard to take back," counters Garth Ivers. Not with you there, Garth. Loss leaders are a well-known business ploy. Amny football clubs in England, for example, have times when they let families/children in for free in the hope they will be drawn into going at other times

Some racing going on as Kamui Kobayashi goes side-by-side with Tonio Liuzzi

"Is Alonso running on a new engine after practice 1 failure? How many has he got left for the season?" asks Arshdeep. He's blown two, he has six left for the season

Breaking news. Ecclestone has spoken to the media about SHanghai. 'It's a shame because the whole venue is super. They're not promoting it; being in Shanghai you wouldn't even know there's a race here." But the Chinese government is "committed to F1" and he says there's no danger of its contract not being renewed

Virgin: "Lucas is reporting that the car feels better. Times not reflecting that though"

Force India: "Tonio coming back in now after his run. it is just 15 deg here, bit nippy." The temperature is dropping and the sun has given way to greyish nothingness as the afternoon smog hits

Sashi, a Ferrari fans, is not happy. "It looks like Ferrari are not upto the speed and are hiding this secret. They seem to be focussing on one stop strategy for Sunday's race. Will we ever see Ferrari topping the practice session? I doubt ...". Early days, these practice sessions are all about set-up. But they do seem to have issues

Hamilton the fastest through the first sector ... and the second ... and 1:35.217 is the quickest of the day and again McLaren top the timesheets in every sector

Button out and going slowly to give himself a clear track on new tyres but he gets stuck behind a chronically slow Virgin and that's stuffed his lap - he shows his frustration as he passes

"Despite that great shot of EL SCHUMA fans, Ferrari must be really worried about their reputation now," says Piers. The team has been around too long to worry, especially this early in the season when it leads the constructors' championship!

Button fastest overall through the final sector but still behind Hamilton overall

Rosberg can't top Hamilton even though he is quicker than him in the final sector

"Everywhere it's McLarens and Mercedes GP," says Sashi. "Where are Ferraris? At least show some signs of your speed." Don't worry ... just be patient

Schumacher posts 1:35.602 to go fourth behind Rosberg and the McLarens

News for Ferrari fans: "Fernando is back in the pits : useful data collected for tyre comparison. Still work to do for a good setup ... with 25 laps completed Felipe is the one with more kilometres this afternoon. a good run with soft tyres."

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Buemi seems unlikely to take part this afternoon as his car is still in bits. He would probably have appreciated being able to go straight back out after this morning's crash

Force India: "Tonio going out again for a planned four timed laps on the option tyres." Team-mate Adrian Sutil is in seventh

Chandhok came close to taking out Kubica as he overtook on the inside … the HRT didn't see him until very late

Virgin "expecting to see a flood of cars on track soon"

Now, Alonso trying to make a mark but bad news ... 1:41+ and he stays in 11th with his earlier 1:37.134

Schumacher six seconds off the pace after a wayward lap

Button reports he had a minor gear problem but it's all sorted ... Massa 1:37.097 and 12th, one place behind his F-ducted team-mate. "Looks like Massa had snails for lunch," says Piers

Many of the teams are still moaning about grip, as I write that Petrov leaves the track for a grass detour. Force India: "Still very low grip, particularly in T1,2 and 3 says Tonio - car is sliding as so little rubber and temperatures are very cold for the tyres."

Hamilton much slower this time out. He must have a heavier fuel load

Kovalainen has stopped at turn 10 and is wearily climbing out of the Lotus ... he crouches at the back and stares at the car much as you would at home if you were wondering if your exhaust was about to fall off. "Engine oil dropout," he says, and explains he lost all power

Virgin takes what scraps the day offers: " Good boy Timo! Ahead of the HRTs at least!"

An angry Alonso gesticulates as he is blocked by Bruno Senna. Such a speed difference that's it's like a 911 roaring up behind a Lada. In fairness to Senna, he was at full speed and he has a right to be there ... but you can also see Alonso's point on a disappointing day

It looks as if the earlier times will stay.

The BBC are reporting: ""A number of the drivers are unhappy about some of Lewis Hamilton's driving during the Malaysian Grand Prix, when he appeared to 'weave' down the straight to prevent Renault's Vitaly Petrov passing him. It is expected to be discussed in the drivers' briefing later on Friday."

"Why are there no times on the driver position sheet? It is usually called a timesheet," says Shaun, not unreasonably. The answer is that F1 is very territorial about times as it regards them as its own. So only official sites can carry them until the session is over.

Time up and Alonso is the last to finish, throwing a heavy car round the circuit. A time of 1:36.604 gets him 10th fastest

And that's the end of the fun. The McLarens and the Mercedes seem to be the ones to watch on the evidence of today, with Ferrari still struggling to sort their set-up. We also know - as if we didn't already - the three new teams are a long way off the pace but the Saubers, which have been very poor so far, looked a little bit more lively. We will be back at 0300GMT - 1100 local - for the third free practice and then in the afternoon the qualifying. From me, Martin Williamson, thanks for watching and see you tomorrow.

	© Getty Images