Euro GP Practice 2: Raikkonen and Ferrari Dominate

Kimi Raikkonen topped the time-sheets in  the second practice session of the weekend in Valencia.

Lewis Hamilton was the first of the front-runners to set a quick time. On his second attempt, Lewis pushed his quickest time up from a 1:41 to a 1:40:6.

To begin with, it appeared that Kimi Raikkonene had the edge over his team-mate, Felippe Massa this time round. At the start of the session, the Finn was close to a second quicker than Felippe, but, approximately 30 minutes into the session, Massa became the first driver of the weekend to climb into the 1:39’s, recording a time of 1:39:976.

For a while, the two Ferraris jostled for the top spot on the time-sheets, while the McLarens fought hard to hit the high 1:40’s. Eventually, Lewis Hamilton breached the 1:39 barrier, setting a time of 1:39:7, taking him to third behind the two red cars.

The dominance of the Ferraris lasted until well into the session, when a surprising lap from Fernando Alonso in the Renault, who was previously running approximately three seconds slower than Raikkonen and Massa, saw him shoot to the top of the times with a 1:39.497.

Before the end of the afternoon practice, Alonso’s impressive time was beaten by Raikkonen, while Button took his Honda RA-108 to third in the final few minutes of the session.