NUERBURGRING: Sebastian Vettel bounced back to his best on Friday afternoon when he led the way for Red Bull in the second free practice for this weekend’s German Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring.
On a warm and dry afternoon in the Eifel, the defending triple world champion and current series leader clocked a best lap in 1:30.416.
That put him two-tenths of a second clear of nearest rival and fellow-German Nico Rosberg of Mercedes, as the pair made the most of home support to emerge as likely leading contenders for pole position on Saturday.
Australian Mark Webber was third quickest in the second Red Bull, close behind Rosberg but ahead of Frenchman Romain Grosjean and his Lotus team-mate Finn Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 champion.
After the dramatic tyre problems seen a week earlier at Silverstone, where four drivers suffered high-speed blowouts during the British Grand Prix, there were no problems with the new Kevlar-strapped tyres supplied by Pirelli.
Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso was sixth quickest in the afternoon, ahead of Ferrari team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa, after failing to clock a lap in the morning.
Briton Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 champion, was eighth fastest in the afternoon, after dominating morning practice, ahead of former team-mate and compatriot 2009 champion Jenson Button of McLaren.
Another Briton Paul Di Resta was 10th fastest ahead of his Force India team-mate German Adrian Sutil.
Friday morning’s session was the first to be run using the new Kevlar-belted tyres. – AFP
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