Sebastian Vettel put Red Bull on top in the second practice session at the Nurburgring.
Having been over a second behind the silvers cars in first practice, Vettel set a 1’30.416 to lead them by two-tenths. Nico Rosberg was second, making it a one-two for German drivers at their home track.
Mark Webber was third and ran a long stint on medium tyres at the end as the drivers evaluated the tyres for race stints.
Behind them were two closely-matched pairs of team mates. Romain Grosjean led the Lotus drivers, the pair separated by a mere five thousandths of a second.
The margin between the Ferrari drivers was even finer. Having failed to set a time in the morning session Fernando Alonso was back on track in the second but couldn’t break into the 1’30s. Felipe Massa was just three-thousandths of a second slower.
Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Paul di Resta completed the top ten. Adrian Sutil was 11th after going off at the last corner.
As in the first session the 90 minutes passed without incident and without any of the feared punctures.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
5th July 2013, 14:35
Oh no! This must mean that Red Bull are now going to dominate for the rest of the season. And clearly had an illegal tyre test while all the other teams were eating their lunch..
;-)
schooner (@schooner)
5th July 2013, 14:37
Beat me to it! :)
andae23 (@andae23)
5th July 2013, 14:55
Same here :P
David-A (@david-a)
5th July 2013, 14:43
Hahaha! :D
zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
5th July 2013, 15:00
LOL
Traverse (@)
5th July 2013, 16:02
;)
@HoHum (@hohum)
5th July 2013, 23:06
They must be cheating, launch an investigation now.;)
stefano (@alfa145)
5th July 2013, 14:40
And the gap between the williams is 0.001 second
Calum (@calum)
5th July 2013, 15:05
Poor performance by Pastor, the car had so much more performance to give.
Guillermo (@izcariot)
5th July 2013, 15:33
If he doesnt steps up his game he will be gone by 2014
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
6th July 2013, 10:22
So long as he continues to bring $45 million sponsorship, they’ll always be a place for him at Williams.
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
5th July 2013, 14:48
Looks likely that Lotus are back in the game. Maybe new tyres are working better for them of maybe they weren’t using tyre swapping or extreme camber angles like other teams. Or it may be because of soft tyres, which are used in this race.
Aditya (@adityafakhri)
5th July 2013, 16:02
Lotus’ upgrades were showing good signs, and the tyres would help them and Ferrari just a little bit, as Mercedes have learned that at Montmelo test. I don’t expect Red Bull would struggle much with their tyres as they usually doing great in middle and latter part of the season. moreover, the tyre has been tweaked…
Lewis McMurray (@celicadion23)
5th July 2013, 14:50
Wow a lot of evenly matched team mates, 8 teams with their drivers side by side. The Ferraris seperated by just 0.003s, Lotus by 0.005s, Force India by 0.025s, Williams by 0.001s! and as usual, the Marussias separated by over half a second with Chilton dragging behind Bianchi :P
salcrich
5th July 2013, 15:26
and Button quicker than Perez by half a second
Guillermo (@izcariot)
5th July 2013, 15:32
He is usually much better than him in practice and qualification, whereas Perez tends to be more aggresive on sundays.
sato113 (@sato113)
5th July 2013, 15:05
bianchi wipes the floor with chilton and then sits out 30mins of the session due to illness.
Guillermo (@izcariot)
5th July 2013, 15:31
Bianchi should definetely be in a better team by 2014
Traverse (@)
5th July 2013, 16:03
Maybe Bianchi should’ve wiped his nose instead! :)
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
5th July 2013, 16:22
@traverse Now, you are throwing too many puns around just for fun!! ;)
Traverse (@)
5th July 2013, 16:40
I’ve been in a silly mood recently. Maybe it’s the sunshine, maybe it’s love, either way I’ll hold back on the silliness…(for now). :)
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
5th July 2013, 17:00
You mean Chilton wiped the floor in front of Bianchi?
Nomore (@nomore)
5th July 2013, 15:07
I had never thought that I would say this : but if i have to choose between Red Bull and Mercedes as a Ferrari fan…Red Bull all the way… at least they have not cheated till now.
I respect Hamilton, but he is sitting in a cheater team…so i can’t wish him good luck…i with them (mercedes) all the bad luck and good luck to all other 10 teams .
D (@f190)
5th July 2013, 15:17
Thank you for that excellent contribution… :/
TheodoreEadman
5th July 2013, 15:38
Hmm… flexi-wings, flexi-floors, flexi-nose cones, blown-diffusers, retarded off-throttle engine mapping, manual ride-height adjustment, floor-holes, exceeding spending limits to name a few things they’ve run in the last 3 years, got caught for, yet had no penalties. Yep, they’re definitely not cheating though!
Jon Sandor (@jonsan)
5th July 2013, 15:52
The reason there were “no penalties” is that none of the things you mention were actually …what’s the word? … illegal.
For instance there were – and there still are – no regulations against “flexi-wings”.
Roald (@roald)
5th July 2013, 16:02
@jonsan Red Bull’s floor after winning last year’s Monaco Grand Prix was deemed illegal after the race, yet no penalty was given strangely enough. If they had been given a penalty, Alonso would’ve been a triple world champion by now.
https://www.racefans.net/2012/06/03/red-bull-lose-points-illegal-floor/
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
5th July 2013, 16:08
@roald To be clear, the Red Bull passed scrutineering so it was considered legal immediately after the race. It’s not as if the stewards said “this car is illegal but we’re going to let you keep your win”.
Robbie (@robbie)
5th July 2013, 16:23
I just wonder how many of RBR’s attempts at pushing the legality envelope (fully within their rights as with all teams btw) had them going to Charlie Whiting for permission first. And getting it. Maybe sometimes they did, maybe sometimes they didn’t. Mercedes certainly did.
Anybody that accuses Mercedes of being out and out cheaters better in the same sentence implicate Charlie Whiting equally for giving Mercedes permission, and better implicate Pirelli equally for supplying tires to Mercedes, if that is the angle from which one wants to approach this.
Jon Sandor (@jonsan)
5th July 2013, 16:28
It was not “deemed illegal”. The FIA changed the rules after the race to ban what RB was doing with the “holes”. At no point were the holes ever “deemed illegal”.
The exact same thing is true of the so-called “illegal engine mapping”, which was completely within the rules until the FIA changed the rules to ban it. Rules changes do not and cannot apply retroactively. In legal terms, you can’t make retroactive or ex post facto laws. The police cannot arrest you today for dong something which was legal in 1998 just because the law has been changed to prohibit that something since then.
Nigel Bates (@nigel1)
5th July 2013, 17:01
But “legal” and “illegal” are what the authorities decide.
If you accept their judgment as far as Red Bull are concerned, then you must accept their judgment regarding Mercedes.
http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/news/files/(IT-2013-01)-Decision%20(EN).pdf
“(1) The track testing, which is the subject of these proceedings, was not
carried out by Pirelli and/or Mercedes with the intention that Mercedes
should obtain any unfair sporting advantage.
(2) Neither Pirelli nor Mercedes acted in bad faith at any material time.
(3) Both Pirelli and Mercedes disclosed to FIA at least the essence of what
they intended to do in relation to the test and attempted to obtain
permission for it; and Mercedes had no reason to believe that approval
had not been given…”
That really doesn’t sound as though the tribunal branded Mercedes as cheats.
You may continue to believe that they are. I may continue to believe otherwise.
We all have opinions – but the only ones which count are those of the authorities.
Jon Sandor (@jonsan)
5th July 2013, 17:56
I don’t know why you’re interjecting Mercedes into this. But the Tribunal DID find that Mercedes had violated the regulations, specifically that they had violated article 22.4 of the sporting regulations by running an illegal in-season test with a current car. Or that they broke the rules, in plain English.
Indeed. And the authorities found that Mercedes broke the rules, and that Red Bull did not. If it is your opinion that the Tribunal cleared Mercedes of wrong-doing – and that seems to be the case – then your opinion is factually wrong.
Tariq Patel (@mdtariqp)
7th July 2013, 8:29
We all have opinions – but the only ones which count are those of the authorities.
Exactly. If we did not have respect for the authorities, there would be total chaos. For those who are not happy with the judgement, either they can appeal to a higher tribunal if there exists one or they need to live with the judgement.
LuvinF1 (@luvinf1)
5th July 2013, 18:00
You really do need to re-read the reg’s. the scrutineering tests did not set the proper limits to detect any transgression of the Rey’s.
Robbie (@robbie)
6th July 2013, 3:21
I think it is folly to forget the mitigating circumstances and try to boil it down to a few simple words, such as ‘they broke the rules plain and simple.’ Those words on their own imply likely necessary hardball punishment, cheating, underhandedness, lawbreaking etc. Especially if applied to normal life laws and legal systems, unlike FIA which is a mix of normal legalities and their own laws and ways of interpreting, changing, and administering them.
To me it is very much about the spirit of the thing. Did RBR try to cheat with holes, try to get away with something underhanded, or just try something? Push the envelope to see if it would help their car and hope it was deemed legal, ready to argue thus with their interpretation of the rule? The answer depends on different people’s different opinions. The truth perhaps only RBR knows. Did they go to Charlie Whiting (for example) for permission ahead of the introduction of the holes? I don’t know, I’m just asking. That to me makes a big difference in the spirit of the thing.
Mercedes are deemed to have thought they had permission, and were deemed to have not done anything in bad faith to gain advantage. Can you say the same of RBR and their holes?
I’m not saying I have a big issue over the holes. I didn’t at the time and I don’t now. Same with Mercedes and the Pirelli tire test conducted at a time (a critcal tire era) that ultimately has led to massive tire concerns, testing now being crucial for safety reasons, and with the rule now changed to allow testing again next year and for the YDT to change in it’s content. While RBR’s holes were not deemed illegal at any point, they did cause a banning and a rule change, as opposed to the holes being deemed legal.
sandy (@sandy)
5th July 2013, 15:28
Merc & Red Bull tyres are graining. Lotus & Ferrari showing excellent race pace. The formbook is turned on it’s head once again.
TheodoreEadman
5th July 2013, 15:41
Agreed. If the Mercs/Red Bulls can only muster +0.5s in qualifying, Alonso and Raikkonen’s excellent race pace will certainly put them in contention for a shot at the win.
Shreyas Mohanty (@)
5th July 2013, 15:53
@sandy could you please elaborate? I missed FP2 so haven’t got any data about it except the lap standings. Are you saying that the situation is back as in Australia?
sandy (@sandy)
5th July 2013, 16:02
More like China.
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
5th July 2013, 15:56
Only the soft are graining, right? This will only be used for a few laps anyway…
sandy (@sandy)
5th July 2013, 16:07
True.But they will either be overtaken by the Ferrari’s & lotuses or get stuck behind a Force India after an early pitstop.
The777man (@gasherbrumf1)
5th July 2013, 16:57
Qualifying doesn’t matter much these days,unless you have Vettel at pole.
Colossal Squid (@colossal-squid)
5th July 2013, 17:52
It’ll be interesting to see how degradation or graining is affected by the expected rise in track temperature tomorrow. Massa had a great, consistent run on the softs, so hopefully both he and his team-mate can keep it up through the weekend! Red Bull look impressive on the mediums though.
Tariq Patel (@mdtariqp)
5th July 2013, 15:48
It seems like Lewis was not able to put a clean lap in FP2. The difference between Vettel and him is around 0.9 seconds.
Jason (@jason12)
5th July 2013, 18:46
@mdtariqp
And noone seems to care….
But if it was the way round….
JUGNU (@jugnu)
5th July 2013, 16:22
After reading the comments of FP1, it looked like Mercedes was going to lap the field and all the fans of rival teams crying about cheating. Jumping to conclusions TOO SOON? Come on don’t be to sensitive fans.
We have seen some races already where it looked like a team has got some huge advantage. Like Lotus in Australia, Ferrari in Spain, Redbull on 2 occasions.
So have patience. Season is long. Nobody cheated and even if Merc gained some advantage (No conclusive evidence), it is soon going to be neutralized by upcoming tire test. Fact is Mercedes have been looking good from the winter tests and have been steadily improving race by race.
Deej92 (@deej92)
5th July 2013, 16:25
I like Vettel’s helmet.
Wilhelm (@wilhelm)
5th July 2013, 17:01
Enjoy while it lasts :-)
The777man (@gasherbrumf1)
5th July 2013, 16:50
Lewis Hamilton is a surprise.1st in P1 and 8th in P2..Rosberg seams consistent…
Glenn (@glennb)
5th July 2013, 17:39
Webber looked strong on the medium tyre all day. Long & short runs. Not too shabby on the soft either.
I don’t think this is a 2 horse race between the top Germans at all. If he can just get the ****en thing off the line on sunday.
David-A (@david-a)
5th July 2013, 17:52
Yep, Lewis, Kimi and Fernando will be there too.
Colossal Squid (@colossal-squid)
5th July 2013, 17:52
I kinda want to see Bianchi miss out this weekend and have Gonzales take his place. Not that I wish further illness on the lad, but he’s been impressive all year in the Marussia, Chilton…eh…less so. If Gonzales had the weekend and was able to match or better Chilton then we’d know just how bad he is, and if Chilton beat him soundly then it might further show how good Bianchi is.
AlonsoWDC (@alonsowdc)
5th July 2013, 17:57
Noah’s Ark with the width of a cigarette paper separating a lot of the field.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
6th July 2013, 4:58
New tyres result in cars in tandem.