Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has topped Friday practice for the 2012 F1 European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain.
The Red Bull Racing driver posted a 1:39.334 early in the session and it was never beaten. Force India’s Nico Hulkenburg was the closest to Vettel’s time, just 0.13 seconds off the pace.
Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi was third fastest while Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher and Williams pilot Bruno Senna rounded out the top five.
Aussie Mark Webber could only managed ninth fastest, more than half a second adrift of his teammate despite having a flying lap on soft rubber. Compatriot Daniel Ricciardo was down in 18th, some 1.78 seconds off the pace.
McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were 14th and 12th respectively, but both drivers didn’t use a set of soft rubber during the session.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was seventh fastest while his teammate Felipe Massa struggled for only 15th position.
A third and final practice will get underway at 7pm AEST before qualifying at 10pm.
| Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 01:39.3 | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 01:39.5 | 0.131 |
| Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:39.6 | 0.261 |
| Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:39.6 | 0.267 |
| Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 01:39.6 | 0.31 |
| Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 01:39.7 | 0.366 |
| Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 01:39.7 | 0.399 |
| Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 01:39.9 | 0.534 |
| Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 01:39.9 | 0.567 |
| Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:39.9 | 0.592 |
| Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 01:39.9 | 0.611 |
| Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:40.0 | 0.656 |
| Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 01:40.1 | 0.741 |
| Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:40.1 | 0.813 |
| Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 01:40.2 | 0.91 |
| Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:40.5 | 1.177 |
| Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 01:41.0 | 1.629 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 01:41.1 | 1.787 |
| Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 01:41.2 | 1.863 |
| Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 01:41.3 | 1.929 |
| Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 01:42.4 | 3.09 |
| Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 01:43.0 | 3.624 |
| Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 01:44.2 | 4.867 |
| Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 01:44.3 | 4.926 |
(Image credit: Getty Images via Red Bull Racing media)
