Chinese GP: Kimi tops practice 2 as well

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's Kimi Raikkonen, now the only Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver with a chance of taking the Drivers' title – albeit a slim one – seems to be the man on form, at least purely in terms of lap times here at the Shanghai International Circuit. The Finn topped the time sheets at the end of both of today's ninety minute sessions.

As usual, on such a long track and on one which sees very little race action apart from this event and the MotoGP race, the track was very green in the first session of the day, providing little grip. However, gradually, as more laps were completed and it rubbered-in, the situation improved, with Kimi's best afternoon time being around half a second quicker than he managed in the morning. In fact, the top four drivers were all in the same order in both the morning and afternoon.

Fernando Alonso was second fastest for McLaren-Mercedes, followed by Felipe Massa in the second F2007, with the Spaniard's teammate Lewis Hamilton fourth. All four men were inside the 1m 37 second barrier. Fifth and sixth respectively at the end of the day were Jarno Trulli for Toyota and Mark Webber for Red Bull Racing.

The weather is very hot and humid, making working conditions for drivers and mechanics rather unpleasant. However, it appears that the left-overs of a typhoon in the area might bring cooling thunderstorms to the circuit tomorrow afternoon and most of the day on Sunday. However, after the downpour in Fuji, Japan last Sunday, it seems that while the spectators might relish the prospect of a damp track to liven up the show, the top teams would rather opt for the less unpredictable dry conditions.

Pos Driver Team Time Behind Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.607 31
2. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.613 + 0.006 28
3. Massa Ferrari 1:36.630 + 0.023 29
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.876 + 0.269 33
5. Trulli Toyota 1:37.151 + 0.544 36
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:37.450 + 0.843 34
7. R.Schumacher Toyota 1:37.524 + 0.917 32
8. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:37.617 + 1.010 27
9. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:37.646 + 1.039 36
10. Fisichella Renault 1:37.970 + 1.363 32
11. Kovalainen Renault 1:38.062 + 1.455 21
12. Button Honda 1:38.205 + 1.598 41
13. Barrichello Honda 1:38.304 + 1.697 40
14. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:38.379 + 1.772 39
15. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:38.388 + 1.781 16
16. Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:38.531 + 1.924 32
17. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:38.975 + 2.368 38
18. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:39.065 + 2.458 36
19. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:39.224 + 2.617 37
20. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:39.360 + 2.753 37
21. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:39.404 + 2.797 34
22. Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari 1:40.051 + 3.444 38