Japanese GP: Despite problems Williams shows pace in FP2

The second Friday practice for the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix would get underway with a rush of drivers leaving the pit lane. Both Williams drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Rubens Barrichello would take to the track early on with Nico putting himself at the top of the times with a 1m:33.800 after six minutes of the session. As the session continued Nico would drop to third with Alonso fastest with a lap time of 1m:33.159 ahead of Petrov, Nico, Kubica and Rubens.

Nico would return to his pit after six laps on the track. Nico would report to his engineer that his car was bouncing and bottoming out much more than in the morning session. Rubens had also pitted but he would return to the track after twenty two minutes of the session, looking to improve from his current twelfth. Fastest at this time was Vettel with a time of 1m:32.501.

After forty five minutes of the session Nico had dropped to eighth and Rubens in tenth. Rubens's time was a 1m:33.564. Hamilton's crash in the first session would see his team only finish their repairs with the McLaren not ready to take to the track until there were just eight minutes left. Hamilton would complete just seven laps finishing thirteenth.

As the session drew to a close every driver with the exception of Rubens was back out on the circuit for their final runs. Rubens was having a engine related issue, which would limit his track time. Rubens would finish in fourteenth after completing just sixteen laps, compare to Nico's twenty six. Rubens was still in his garage as the session came to a close. Red Bull would continue to dominate with Vettel fastest with a lap of 1m:31.465 to be ahead of team-mate Webber. Kubica was in third Alonso fourth and Massa fifth. Button ended the day in sixth position with Petrov seventh and Schumacher eighth.

As for the AT&T Williams team it would be hard to draw any conclusions as to their form over Friday practice with Rubens problems in the second session limiting his track time. The problem with his car was a pneumatic leak that occurred towards the end of the session. It was also found that Nico had an electrical problem with his car during the session.

Pos  Driver	    Team		    Time      Laps
 1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:31.465  31
 2.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        1:31.860  29
 3.  Kubica         Renault                 1:32.200  32
 4.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:32.362  34
 5.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:32.519  35
 6.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:32.533  28
 7.  Petrov         Renault                 1:32.703  32
 8.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1:32.831  27
 9.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1:32.842  26
10.  Hulkenberg     AT&T Williams-Cosworth  1:32.851  26
11.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:32.880  26
12.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1:33.471  31
13.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:33.481  8
14.  Barrichello    AT&T Williams-Cosworth  1:33.564  16
15.  Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari          1:33.697  33
16.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:34.005  32
17.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:34.055  37
18.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1:34.310  33
19.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          1:36.095  37
20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          1:36.333  33
21.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         1:36.630  28
22.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         1:36.834  28
23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth            1:37.352  33
24.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth            1:37.831  34