Jenson Button topped a drying second free practice at Istanbul yesterday afternoon.
The 2009 World Champion set a best of 1:26.456 in the midst of a 26 lap stint, leaving him just six-hundredths quicker than the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.
A McLaren / Mercedes pairing took over 3rd and 4th places as well, with Lewis Hamilton just pipping Michael Schumacher, albeit both fell over half-a-second shy of Button.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber registered 5th, following a 31 lap session. His teammate, Sebastian Vettel did not set a lap following his morning practice crash.
Felipe Massa had a positive afternoon in his Ferrari, taking 6th place ahead of Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and the Force India of Adrian Sutil. All three ran 37 valuable laps, having largely stayed out of trouble during the morning wash-out.
Massa’s Ferrari teammate, Fernando Alonso had a less than successful stint. Persistent hydraulic problems and a spin left the Spaniard 11th on the timing sheets, some 1.6 seconds down on Button.
Williams had a tough afternoon with Pastor Maldonado suffering two spins – the second of which sent the Venezuelan into the barrier – while Barrichello’s session was rudely interrupted with a KERS problem.
It would leave the blue-and-white pair 15th and 16th, just ahead of the busiest man of second practice, Jarno Trulli. The Lotus displayed gains in practice, as they continue to close in on the midfield – Trulli also beat Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi in the standings by two-tenths.
Jerome d’Ambrosio ended the session 20th and ahead of Timo Glock; however the Virgin driver will have to accept a five-place grid penalty, thanks to setting his best lap under yellows flags, while marshals recovered Maldonado’s car.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.456s 26
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m26.521s + 0.065 29
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m27.033s + 0.577 31
4. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m27.063s + 0.607 21
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m27.149s + 0.693 31
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m27.340s + 0.884 37
7. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m27.517s + 1.061 37
8. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m27.725s + 1.269 37
9. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.844s + 1.388 32
10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m28.052s + 1.596 37
11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m28.069s + 1.613 27
12. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.153s + 1.697 36
13. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m28.475s + 2.019 35
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.765s + 2.309 32
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m28.828s + 2.372 19
16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m28.946s + 2.490 20
17. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m29.409s + 2.953 39
18. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m29.637s + 3.181 27
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m30.281s + 3.825 37
20. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.035s + 4.579 28
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.221s + 4.765 22
22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m31.320s + 4.864 29
23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m31.989s + 5.533 30
