• Korean Grand Prix - FP2

McLaren dominates in damp conditions

ESPNF1 Staff
October 14, 2011
Only three drivers could get within two seconds of Lewis Hamilton's time © Getty Images
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Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of second practice for the Korean Grand Prix as McLaren dominated in the damp conditions.

Hamilton set a time of 1:50.828, putting him 0.104s quicker than his team-mate Jenson Button. The pair were 1.7s clear of the rest of the field, headed by Sebastian Vettel in third place and Fernando Alonso fourth. Mark Webber was fifth ahead of Jaime Alguersuari who suffered a collision with Nico Rosberg towards the end of the session.

After a very wet FP1 the track had dried out slightly, and the session began with a lot more action than the morning had seen, with the majority of drivers heading out on intermediate tyres. Mistakes were still common as Alonso, Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado all ran off the road as they pushed to find the limit.

The McLaren pair traded fastest lap times in the first half of the session, over two seconds quicker than Vettel in third as the track conditions improved. The pace available in the circuit seemed to reach a plateau though as the cool temperatures meant that the track didn't dry off-line.

The biggest moment of note came with 20 minutes remaining when Rosberg ran wide at turn one and was unlucky to meet Alguersuari leaving the pit lane at the exact same time. Rosberg's front wing was broken against the sidepod of the Toro Rosso, and proceeded to tuck itself under his front right tyre, preventing the wheel from turning. That forced Rosberg to abandon his car after turn two, while a marshal had to run on to the track to clear a piece of debris. The incident is likely to increase calls for a pit-lane exit alteration as cars are delivered straight out on to the racing line.

As the intermediate tyres got more and more worn, a few more mistakes occurred. Alonso started a trend when he spun at turn four having lost the rear end under braking, and his team-mate Felipe Massa followed suit after Senna had also spun there having run wide.

A number of drivers tried slick tyres towards the end of the session but the low track temperature coupled with a wet circuit off-line meant nobody was able to get heat in to the tyres, and none set a lap time on either the soft or supersoft compound.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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