German GP: Another competitive session from Williams in FP2

After the opening Friday practice session for the 2010 German Grand Prix the AT&T Williams team would see their drivers in fourth and eighth with Rubens Barrichello heading team-mate Nico Hulkenberg. The session was dominated by the variable weather conditions with the track very wet to begin with but it would dry later in the sessions. Several drivers, including both Nico and Rubens, would have spins as they tried to cope with the wet conditions. The conditions at the beginning of the second session were far better with it been dry as the session got underway. Despite this there were still parts of the track that had water running across it.

Kobayashi would be first out joined by several other drivers, including Nico. Kobayashi would have a few moments as he found the patches of water. Kobayashi would set a 1m:32.305 on his first timed lap. Alguersuari would go faster with a 1m:31.920 but he was quickly beaten by De la Rosa with a 1m:27.395. Kobayashi would improve with a 1m:30.879 to be second, but Alguersuari would move ahead. Nico was to pit while we also had Kubica and both Force India cars out on the track. De la Rosa was down to a 1m:25.160 while team-mate Kobayashi would set a 1m:25.946. Sutil was now second with a time of 1m:25.263. The times were coming down with De la Rosa able to set a 1m:23.512 to be 1.7 seconds ahead of second.

Liuzzi was now third, 1m:25.677 but Alguersuari was ahead again with the order De la Rosa from Sutil and Alguersuari. On his first lap Webber would move up to third, 1m:24.659, but this became sixth as other drivers improved. Liuzzi was now second from Kobayashi and Petrov. The wet patch at the hairpin was really proving to be a problem with several drivers taking to the asphalt run-off area. De la Rosa was down to a 1m:21.516 but Sutil would move ahead with a 1m:20.911. It was all changing rapidly with Kubica moving up to third from Buemi and Webber. Nico was still in his pit but Rubens was out on the track. De la Rosa again improved with a 1m:20.164 to be fastest from Liuzzi and Sutil. Kubica was now fourth with Button fifth but Kubica would move up to second, 1m:20.775.

The times continued to fall as the conditions improved with Sutil now fastest with a 1m:19.633. De la Rosa would pit while Button moved up to third. Webber would take this spot as Sutil improved his time with a 1m:19.031. Alonso was now in fifth from Liuzzi, Kubica, Buemi, Kobayashi, and Massa in tenth. Buemi was able to move up to sixth while Rubens was down in seventeenth but was able to improve to be twelfth, 1m:22.600. Nico was back out on the track as Sutil pitted with Kubica second and Button third. Nico had yet to set a time while Massa would improve to be in third, 1m:19.835. Alonso was on a quick lap finishing with a 1m:18.307 to go fastest. Buemi was now fourth, 1m:19.527, while Rubens was up to tenth, 1m:20.349.

Nico was now thirteenth with a time of 1m:21.922 as Button set a 1m:18.833 to be second. Rubens would find some time to now be in fifth, 1m:19.485. Nico was also able to improve to jump up to seventh, 1m:19.616, after being down in eleventh. Massa was up to second, 1m:18.760, as Rubens pitted. Schumacher was able to improve from his earlier session time to be in third, 1m:18.791. Nico was still out on the track and was able to move up to sixth, 1m:19.175. Rosberg was forced to return to his pit after hitting one of the cones placed at the first corner. His front wing was flapping away as he drove back to his pit. While this was happening a small amount of rain would start to fall. Some drivers were looking to get a run on the softer tyre, one being Webber. But the track conditions were quite difficult as Nico pitted. Webber would pit but was down in fourteenth.

Button was in fourth from Sutil and Nico in sixth. The top six were all in their pits with just under an hour remaining. Vettel was down in seventeenth as the drivers continued to struggle at various parts of the circuit. Nico would return to the track as Vettel would run off and into the gravel at Turn twelve. de la Rosa was able to improve to now be in seventh, 1m:19.416. Rubens was back out and up to seventh, 1m:19.327, while Nico would move up to second with a time of 1m:18.546. On the option tyre Webber was able to go fastest with a 1m:17.840. More drivers were coming back out as more drivers continued to improve. Rubens was up to fifth, 1m:18.494 but Nico would move from sixth to fourth, 1m:18.184. Alonso was back at the top of the times leading from Webber, Rosberg, Schumacher, Nico, and Rubens.

Webber was able to go fastest with a 1m:16.585 with Alonso now second and Massa up to third. Nico was now seventh and Rubens ninth. Button was now in fifth from Sutil and Liuzzi. Both Nico and Rubens would pit currently in ninth and eleventh. Webber had pitted with Alonso and Massa in second and third. Petrov would jump up to sixth, 1m:17.723. Rubens was back out and we had the Williams pair eleventh and twelfth. Petrov was now in fourth, 1m:17.547, but Rubens would move ahead of the Renault setting a time of 1m:17.160. Alonso was now quickest with a 1m:16.265 as the track continued to improve. Webber and Vettel were both back out as Schumacher moved up to be fourth. Nico was down in fourteenth, 1m:18.184, while Vettel would find a big amount of time with a 1m:16.609 to be fourth.

Nico was now in fifteenth while Rubens had pitted currently in sixth. On his next lap Nico would also find time to jump up to seventh, 1m:17.204, running on the softer tyre. Vettel was again able to find time to now be in second, 1m:16.294. With thirty minutes remaining Rubens and Nico were now in eighth and ninth. Rosberg was up to fifth with a 1m:16.827. Rubens would continue his run on the option tyre with a current time of 1m:17.056. Nico was also now out on the track with just over twenty minutes remaining. Rubens would spin at Turn ten but was able to continue while Schumacher would pit complaining about the rear of his car. Hamilton was able to get back into his car with fifteen minutes remaining. Rubens and Nico were still in eighth and ninth as Vettel came back out.

Hamilton would finally take to the track with just over ten minutes left in the session. Alonso was still fastest from Vettel, Massa, Webber, Rosberg, Schumacher, Kubica, Rubens, Nico, and Kobayashi in tenth. On his first lap Hamilton would move up to eighteenth, 1m:19.528, running on the prime tyre. His next lap would see him up to fifteenth, 1m:17.808, to be one place behind Button. As the final five minutes counted down only three drivers were in their pits, one being Schumacher. Alonso had also pitted while Trulli would pull off the track at the exit to the hairpin. Alonso was back out with Schumacher now the only driver in the pit lane. Hamilton was able to find a few tenths with a 1m:17.633 to be thirteenth. Both Rubens and Nico continued to run as Hamilton improved with a 1m:17.004 to move up the order to be in seventh.

With the end of the session Rubens and Nico would finish in ninth and tenth. Alonso would remain fastest from Vettel, Massa, Webber, Rosberg, Schumacher, Hamilton, and Kubica in eighth. IT was again encouraging to see both Williams drivers in the top ten

Pos  Driver	    Team		    Time      Laps
 1.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:16.265  35
 2.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:16.294  26
 3.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:16.438  37
 4.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        1:16.585  40
 5.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:16.827  32
 6.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1:16.971  20
 7.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:17.004  10
 8.  Kubica         Renault                 1:17.009  37
 9.  Barrichello    AT&T Williams-Cosworth  1:17.056  37
10.  Hulkenberg     AT&T Williams-Cosworth  1:17.204  44
11.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1:17.336  44
12.  Petrov         Renault                 1:17.547  35
13.  de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari          1:17.573  39
14.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1:17.701  38
15.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:17.739  36
16.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1:17.871  33
17.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:18.147  45
18.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:19.327  48
19.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         1:19.553  30
20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          1:20.008  34
21.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         1:20.106  31
22.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          1:20.377  37
23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth            1:21.988  37
24.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth            1:23.066  37