FP2: Vettel on top again despite problems

Friday 16th November 2012, 20:49 by TF1T Staff 

© Red Bull Racing, Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel once again topped practice for Red Bull in Austin despite suffering a water leak at the start of the session.

The German lost about 40 minutes of running as the team tended to his car, but it wasn't enough to spoil his day as he immediately jumped to the top of the times.

Mark Webber was second quickest to give Red Bull a 1-2 ahead of Fernando Alonso who, along with Webber, was around seven tenths slower than Vettel.

The McLaren duo were fourth and fifth quickest with Lewis Hamilton struggling for grip at times as he span his McLaren.

Felipe Massa completed the top six cars as the other nine teams could only look on and complete their programmes.

Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen made contact due to a misunderstanding with the former suffering front-wing damage and the latter a punctured tyre.

Meanwhile, as the session drew to a close, Pastor Maldondo's engine blew and caught fire as he pulled into the pits before his mechanics sprinted to his aid.

FP2 Results for the 2012 United States Grand Prix:

#No.DriverTeamTimeGapLaps 
01 01 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:37.718   17
02 04 M. Webber Red Bull 1:38.475 0.757 36
03 05 F. Alonso Ferrari 1:38.483 0.765 35
04 03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:38.748 1.030 31
05 02 J. Button McLaren 1:38.786 1.068 32
06 06 F. Massa Ferrari 1:39.029 1.311 33
07 12 N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:39.448 1.730 32
08 14 B. Senna Williams 1:39.531 1.813 38
09 08 K. Kobayashi Sauber 1:39.653 1.935 36
10 15 M. Schumacher Mercedes 1:40.115 2.397 30
11 11 K. Räikkönen Lotus 1:40.166 2.448 32
12 16 P. Maldonado Williams 1:40.230 2.512 35
13 17 R. Grosjean Lotus 1:40.286 2.568 32
14 09 S. Perez Sauber 1:40.326 2.608 35
15 10 D. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:40.435 2.717 30
16 18 J. Vergne Toro Rosso 1:40.516 2.798 32
17 07 N. Hulkenberg Force India 1:40.700 2.982 34
18 25 P. di Resta Force India 1:41.430 3.712 35
19 20 H. Kovalainen Caterham 1:42.476 4.758 38
20 21 T. Glock Marussia 1:42.652 4.934 33
21 24 V. Petrov Caterham 1:42.846 5.128 38
22 19 C. Pic Marussia 1:43.538 5.820 38
23 22 P. de la Rosa HRT 1:44.453 6.735 16
24 23 N. Karthikeyan HRT 1:45.114 7.396 20

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