Fernando Alonso showed his master class in Friday's second French practice, placing his Renault at the top of the timesheets ahead of the two Ferraris.
In a closely-fought session, which saw all the drivers from P1 to 13 within one second of each other, Alonso put in a late charge to take the P1 slot away from Felipe Massa. Kimi Raikkonen was third.
Report: With the sun blazing down and a track temperature of 41'C Fernando Alonso hit the track, the first out. However, it was Seb Bourdais who set the first time of the afternoon, a 1:18.745.
Nelson Piquet Jr soon surpassed him before he himself was overhauled by Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn, though, didn't remain on top for long as his team-mate Lewis Hamilton posted a 1:16.500 to take the P1 slot.
Sebastian Vettel went second, 0.151s off the pace, before he was overtaken by Fernando Alonso. Bourdais improved to fourth place, slotting in behind his team-mate as Toro Rosso put in some good early runs.
Pushing hard Kimi Raikkonen went off at Estoril corner, taking to the astroturf, while team-mate Felipe Massa went second quickest on his first run, under a tenth off Hamilton's leading time. Raikkonen improved to second place.
David Coulthard posted the fastest middle sector time on his way to fifth place.
More problems for Fernado Alonso who runs off the track at the 180 degree left-hander. The Spaniard used a new engine for this session after his previous power unit blew at the end of the morning's practice.
Massa clocked a 1:16.359 to move to the front of the pack, 0.141s ahead of Hamilton. The Brazilian's reign was short-lived as Kovalainen, using the soft tyre compound, took over at the top, edging Massa by 0.019.
In sharp contrast team-mate Hamilton once again struggled to stay on the track, going off at the Nurburgring chicane. The next lap he was in the gravel at Turn Three and the following lap hit the dirt at the Estoril corner.
Raikkonen took over at the front on the harder option Bridgestones only to lose out to Massa who broke into the 1:15s as Ferrari looked to dominate the proceedings.
Vettel moved up to fourth place ahead of Hamilton as Massa lost it at the Imola chicane, taking to the gravel before returning to his Ferrari garage.
Nelson Piquet Jr joins the list of those going off the track, having a moment at Chateau d'Eau before Adrian Sutil gets out of shape exiting the high-speed Imola chicane.
Vettel improved to P3 but lost it a few minutes later to Alonso. Kubica moved up sixth place ahead of Hamilton who spent more than 30 minutes in the pits getting his car sorted out after his last trip into the gravel. The Brit, though, pitted after just one lap while Nick Heidfeld took seventh place off him.
With seven minutes left on the clock Alonso jumped to the top of the timesheets, putting in an impressive lap to post a 1:15.776. Hamilton moved up to fourth place behind the two Ferraris.
Times
01 F. Alonso Renault 1:15.778 37 laps
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:15.854 24 laps
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:15.999 42 laps
04 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:16.232 28 laps
05 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.298 42 laps
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:16.317 35 laps
07 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:16.340 36 laps
08 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:16.458 43 laps
09 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:16.543 39 laps
10 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:16.572 36 laps
11 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.682 42 laps
12 J. Trulli Toyota 1:16.743 43 laps
13 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.758 42 laps
14 K. Nakajima Williams 1:17.002 32 laps
15 T. Glock Toyota 1:17.092 39 laps
16 M. Webber Red Bull 1:17.106 38 laps
17 J. Button Honda 1:17.244 37 laps
18 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:17.394 42 laps
19 R. Barrichello Honda 1:17.591 27 laps
20 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:17.868 33 laps
Related Links
Friday's French photos
