Italian GP Free Practice Two review - Vettel quick short and long

Sebastian Vettel pipped Lewis Hamilton in Yesterday's second free practice session by just 0.036 seconds. In spite of Hamilton being held up considerably on his fastest run in FP2, Vettel's performance on a track ill-suited to the characteristics of the Red Bull was very impressive. What's more, Vettel's pace on the long runs will have given Mclaren food for thought. Having already won at Valencia and Spa, circuits designed to exploit Red Bull's weaknesses, they may continue to buck the trend this weekend.

Michael Schumacher was surprising third for Mercedes who have endured a difficult season, although their significant straightline speed advantage should be beneficial this weekend. The 42 year old was only 0.337 seconds down on his fellow countryman's time.

The Ferrari's had to settle for fourth and fifth, with Fernando Alonso leading Felipe Massa, although the Prancing Horse appears to be someway off the pace at their home race. The presence of Luca di Montezemolo in the Ferrari garage for qualifying, not to mention the Tifosi who demand success from their heroes, only adds to the pressure on the team from Maranello.

Free Practice Two timesheet

Friday Practice Session 2
POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	ENTRANT	TIME
1.	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Red Bull-Renault	1:24.010
2.	Lewis Hamilton	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	1:24.048
3.	Michael Schumacher	Germany	Mercedes GP	1:24.347
4.	Felipe Massa	Brazil	Ferrari	1:24.366
5.	Fernando Alonso	Spain	Ferrari	1:24.433
6.	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	1:24.468
7.	Jenson Button	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	1:24.508
8.	Sergio Perez	Mexico	Sauber-Ferrari	1:25.097
9.	Kamui Kobayashi	Japan	Sauber-Ferrari	1:25.182
10.	Bruno Senna	Brazil	Renault	1:25.325
11.	Vitaly Petrov	Russia	Renault	1:25.450
12.	Adrian Sutil	Germany	Force India-Mercedes	1:25.496
13.	Paul di Resta	Britain	Force India-Mercedes	1:25.683
14.	Jaime Alguersuari	Spain	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:25.758
15.	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	Williams-Cosworth	1:26.202
16.	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuela	Williams-Cosworth	1:26.353
17.	Sebastien Buemi	Switzerland	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:26.347
18.	Jarno Trulli	Italy	Lotus-Renault	1:28.559
19.	Heikki Kovalainen	Finland	Lotus-Renault	1:28.605
20.	Timo Glock	Germany	Virgin-Cosworth	1:28.804
21.	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italy	HRT-Cosworth	1:29.162
22.	Nico Rosberg	Germany	Mercedes GP	1:29.184
23.	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Belgium	Virgin-Cosworth	1:29.622
24.	Daniel Ricciardo	Australia	HRT-Cosworth	1:29.841

Josh.