From GMM
After topping the morning timesheets, Lewis Hamilton's 2009 form reverted to more familiar territory as the second 90 minutes of free practice was run on Friday afternoon at the Grand Prix of China. The reigning world champion - although quicker than his top morning time - slipped to thirteenth place, a couple of tenths off the pace of his McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen, and more than a second away from Jenson Button's best. The other grandee teams, however, were faring no better: both Ferraris were outside the top eleven, the Renaults outside the top fifteenth, and the BMWs languishing among the back markers. BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica has been using KERS for the first time this season in Shanghai practice, but reports that Alonso's Renault may already be fitted with a 'double diffuser' may have been premature. "The super-soft tyre is performing better than we expected. The medium tyre still remains the better race tyre," the team revealed. At the other end of the timesheets, Williams' Nico Rosberg seemed to have recaptured his Australia-Malaysia practice form by only narrowly missing the top time, while the Red Bulls and Toyotas also look quick. It hovered around a mild 20 degrees in China on Friday, with light showers scheduled for Sunday. Friday, free practice 1: 1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'37"334 - 22 laps 2 - Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'37"450 - 18 3 - Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'37"566 - 19 4 - Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'36"672 - 23 5 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'37"752 - 20 6 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1'37"764 - 19 7 - Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'37"860 - 21 8 - Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - 1'37"894 - 21 9 - Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 1'38"089 - 19 10 - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'38"195 - 24 11 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F60) - 1'38"223 - 23 12 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'38"274 - 20 13 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'38"307 - 26 14 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'38"319 - 18 15 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F60) - 1'38"418 - 20 16 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 1'38"456 - 21 17 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'38"460 - 19 18 - Robert Kubica (BMW F1.09) - 1'38"463 - 18 19 - Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'38"730 - 25 20 - Nelsinho Piquet - (Renault R29) - 1'38"825 - 20 Friday, free practice 2: 1 - Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'35"679 - 35 laps 2 - Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'35"704 - 36 3 - Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'35"881 - 35 4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'36"105 - 32 5 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'36"167 - 22 6 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1'36"217 - 42 7 - Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'36"377 - 32 8 - Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - 1'36"548 - 40 9 - Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'36"674 - 34 10 - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'36"800 - 34 11 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'36"829 - 30 12 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F60) - 1'36"847 - 34 13 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'36"941 - 28 14 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F60) - 1'37"054 - 33 15 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'37"219 - 34 16 - Nelson Piquet (Renault R29) - 1'37"273 - 36 17 - Robert Kubica (BMW F1.09) - 1'37"491 - 34 18 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 1'37"544 - 28 19 - Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 1'37"638 - 28 20 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'37"750 - 31 Photos: Brawn GP
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