Valencia: Alonso tops practice 2

Nick Heidfeld was unhappy with the local hero, but Fernando Alonso managed to please his Spanish supporters by capturing the top spot in afternoon practice at Valencia.

Before the chequered flag waved on the 180 minutes of Friday practice at the Spanish port city street circuit, Alonso's seemingly dominant Renault – although just ninth in the morning session – collided with the BMW of Nick Heidfeld at the final corner, throwing the latter into a near-roll.

Spectating from the Ferrari pitwall, Michael Schumacher was highly amused by the crash, but Heidfeld slammed it as "just plain stupid".

The Valencia heat is apparently working in Brawn's favor as the title-leading team returns to top form, but Sebastien Buemi was complaining on the radio of a burned right foot against his boiling-hot Toro Rosso carbon pedal.

Hungary winner Lewis Hamilton had been near the pace in the morning, but he had to sit out almost all of the final session when he damaged his prototype McLaren front wing.

Renault debutant Romain Grosjean had a solid opening day of action with the 17th and 13th fastest times respectively, but Luca Badoer was struggling for Ferrari, never higher than 18th on the time sheets.

Life in the Valencia media centre was also trying for journalists, with both TV and timing systems not functioning at the start of the afternoon practice session.

Results