Welcome back to Abu Dhabi for the second free practice session for the final grand prix of the season. Vettel and Red Bull looked dominant in FP1 but the track conditions were changing throughout the session and we are unlikely to get a true reflection of the drivers' form until they bolt on a soft set of tyres in this session.

The rain at the circuit this morning appears to have passed, although showers throughout the weekend are predicted on some weather forecasts. We saw that the rain also has a dramatic effect on the track's grip immediately after it has dried, as it leaves a fine dust on the surface that takes several laps to clear.

McLaren looked reasonably competitive in the first session, but the track will evolve with every lap from now on. As a result a good balance in FP1 may not translate into an easy car to drive in qualifying.

The sun is starting to set and the drivers will get an idea of the light conditions they'll experience in qualifying and the race.

The session is under way with di Grassi and Klien heading out on track.

Ferrari says: "Fernando is going to use a different rear wing, with lower downforce"

The drivers will continue to tweak their set-up right until Saturday final practice, but that does sound like a pretty major change.

Webber and Vettel are out on the track.

Ferrari on Massa: "Felipe is going out now with a new set of hard tyres"

The drivers will use a second set of hard tyres and their first set of soft tyres in this session.

Felipe Massa takes out a bollard at the apex of one of the corners. Sutil nearly hits it. No obvious damage to either car.

Track temperature is down 6C since FP1 so it might take a few laps to get the hard tyres up to temperature.

Alonso clocks the fastest time with a 1:24.474, Button is 0.575 back but he is faster through the first sector.

Schumacher is taking wide lines through the final sector using all the track and more. He goes fifth fastest.

Hamilton clocks a 1:41.664, the fastest lap we've seen today.

Button is complaining of more front locking. He has had that problem at the last few races and it's still causing problems.

Bridgestone's Andy Stobart says: "Lots of running in FP2 - track needs it - was very slippery in FP1 - heavy graining front and rear from those who ran early on."

Frans says: "Funny and also impressive to see that the top GP2 times outqualify many f1 car here today."

It's a good point, Oliver Turvey's pole time was 1:48.559. Which was faster or on a par with the new teams in FP1.

Vettel is out on track now and has started his first flying lap.

Webber pops up to fifth as Vettel starts another lap and sets a personal best in the first sector.

Vettel is struggling in sector two and three but could well be on a heavier fuel load. He's now sixth fastest, 1.232 off Alonso.

Webber pops in the third fastest time, 0.609 off Alonso. Button is up to fifth.

Vettel and Webber have returned to the pits. We might see one more hard tyre run from the front runners before they bolt on the softs.

Glock gets stuck behind a Force India and gesticulates from his cockpit after being held up.

Kubica is out on track now, pumping in the laps and just 0.443 off Alonso.

Ferrari is still doing back-to-back tests on its rear wing: "Now both drivers are changing rear wings. Fernando will go back to FP1 wing, Felipe will have the lower downforce"

Force India update: "A longer run coming up next for tonio while adrian will be going for a shorter one. Temps are falling, 29 deg here now"

Schumacher makes a couple of mistakes in the final sector and aborts his lap.

Renault update: "Robert is now back in the garage after this run, night is falling very fast now, almost completely dark here in Abu Dhabi"

Alonso, Hamilton, Webber and Button are back out on track but on hard tyres.

Vettel is ready to head out but is staying on the hard tyres. We might see a slightly lighter fuel load now.

Alguersuari is pushing the limits and ran wide twice on that last lap. He also set his fastest last sector despite running wide.

Hamilton is on a quick lap after the fastest first sector of all...

Alonso improves to a 1:41.464.

Hamilton's fast lap gets ruined in the final sector when he comes across the HRT of Bruno Senna in the penultimate corner.

Senna is unperturbed and is pushing very hard in the final sector before returning to the pits

Webber is the fastest man through the first two sectors combined... but he misses out on Alonso's time by 0.086.

The stewards are going to look into the Hamilton/Senna incident. Looking at the replay, Hamilton cut back across Senna after he had been held up and dived in the pits. That is what the stewards will investigate.

Force India says: "Adrian stays in the garage as mechanics change his rear brakes, standard procedure that doesn't take too long"

Vettel hasn't improved on his time yet but we'll see soft tyre runs soon.

Vettel is now improving and looks set for a personal best.

Vettel goes second fastest, just 0.070 off Alonso and 0.016 up on team-mate Webber.

Force India update: "Track is much improved says Tonio: 'you could push a lot more' 11th quickest for now"

Hulkenberg starts a lap on the softer tyres. The rear of the car is still snapping out underneath him. He only manages ninth fastest, 0.985 off the pace.

Buemi gets within inches of the wall at turn 19, but just holds his Toro Rosso together.

Hamilton and Button are now out on option tyres for a quick four-lap run. Button's first lap is way off the pace but is winding up for another attempt.

Hamilton gets stuck in traffic behind a Virgin on his latest attempt and end up 0.4 off Alonso. It's also ruined his next lap, so he'll have tow more attempts to make use of the new rubber.

Massa nakes a bit of a mess of his new soft tyres by spinning at one of the chicanes.

Alonso is out on soft tyres and going even quicker... but he came up behind a Lotus in turn 15 and 16 and aborted his lap.

Massa is on a very quick lap as is Hamilton.

Hamilton sets the fastest lap of the session with a 1:41.213.

Alguersuari has spun and stopped at turn 19. He floored it to keep it out of the wall but as he spun round the anti-stall failed to kick in.

That yellow flag ruins Webber's hot lap.

But Webber is on another attempt and he and Alonso are about to quicker. As is Hamilton, with the fastest first sector so far on his final lap.

Alonso completes his lap 0.101 off Hamilton. Webber is 0.156 off and Hamilton improves to 1:40.888. Great lap/.

So with that latest attempt by Hamilton puts Alonso 0.426 down and Webber 0.481 off.

Webber makes a mistake on his latest hot lap, running wide in turn one.

Hamilton is back in the pits while Alonso complains of oversteer: "I don't know what we can do."

Toro Rosso says: "Jaime spun and stalled with 28 minutes remaining. Parked out on track. But no damage done."

Alonso is back in the pits, so, of the championship contenders, just Webber and Vettel are left out on the soft tyres

Massa has stopped on one of the straights. He is climbing out of his car and that looks terminal for this session. No sign of smoke or any other problems with his Ferrari, we will have to wait to hear from the team.

Vettel sets the second fastest time with a 1:41.145, 0.257 off Hamilton.

Vettel starts another lap and is again fastest in the first sector but drops off on the long straights in sector two. His final sector isn't up to much and he fails to improve.

A radio communication reveals that Massa stopped because he ran out of fuel.

Marc asks: "Can you tell me why some drivers get their tyres to the good temperature, whilst others don't? What's in it? It obviously seems very important this year."

It comes down to driving style, suspension settings and weight distribution. Drivers who are happier with the car moving around underneath them and who are willing to put dramatic inputs on corner enrty tend to heat their tyres up quicker. Also set-up plays a major part and some drivers can cope with a set-up that heats the tyres better than others. Add to that, that some cars put more stress on the tyres than others and you have a very complex but very important combination of factors. Button and Massa are two examples this year who have struggled, but then again, they tend to be a little bit easier on their tyres.

Ferrari confirms that it was a fuel issue but is not confirming that the car actually ran out of fuel. It is possible that it was a fuel pick-up problem. "There was a fuel issue on Felipe's car but we need to wait for the car back in the garage to be more precise"

Alonso is out on the soft tyre and on heavy fuel to simulate the start of the race. It's likely that his competitors are doing the same. Vettel, Heidfeld, Glock and di Grassi are the only drivers who are not out on track.

Huge amounts of graining on the soft tyres coming off Hulkenberg's Williams.

Vettel is a second off Hamilton through the first sector. But he is on a much heavier fuel load now and worn soft tyres.

So, Hamilton's time looks safe as he returns to the pits. McLaren is making a scheduled front wing change before sending the cars back out for a practice start once the chequered flag has come out.

Kobayashi is the only man not on track as all the other drivers get one last run.

The session comes to an end and Hamilton's time is safe.

Schumacher comes up behind Sutil on his last run and makes his feelings known.

So it looks as though Hamilton has the pace to feature in qualfying tomorrow. It should be a great session. To get an even more in-depth look into what's going on make sure you check the site this afternoon for all the team and driver reaction.