Fernando Alonso and Ferrari were fastest at the midway point of the second day of testing in Valencia, but were only a fraction of a second ahead of day one pace-setter Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel had bettered his Tuesday time by 0.155 seconds early on as he continued to rack up mileage on the new Red Bull RB7, but was pipped by Alonso just after 13:00 local time when the Ferrari clocked a 1:13.469. All the drivers have been aided by slightly warmer temperatures, which also encouraged a larger crowd to come to the circuit.
Once again there was no doubt who the local fans were supporting and the first corner grandstands were decked out with Ferrari caps and emitting a distinctive smell of recreational drugs. Alonso certainly made his fans' trip worthwhile, completing over 50 laps in the new F150, which appears to be running relatively reliably after a problem at the end of the fiirst day. He was clearly working on several different programmes as his times in the first half of the morning were a long way off those heading up to lunch.
Third fastest was Paul di Resta in last year's Force India. After an afternoon of acclimatisation to the new Pirelli tyres yesterday, he vowed to push harder today, but tipped the balance a little too far one hour and 20 minutes into the session when he spun off at turn two. The test was stopped while his car was craned out of the gravel trap and di Resta had to return to the pits in the passenger seat of a local MPV.
He was not the only one to bring the session to a halt however, Rubens Barrichello's Williams pulled up at turn five with what looked like a mechanical problem after just 40 minutes of running. On the plus side he returned to the track to clock up a reasonably healthy 45 laps. Williams disconnected its KERS unit yesterday after some problems, but it has yet to be confirmed if it had similar issues today. Either way, the feeling is that car has yet to show its full pace as Barrichello once again found himself at the bottom of the timesheets.
The biggest story of the morning was the track debut of the new Lotus, however, the fanfare was rather stymied when the new T128 could only complete six laps by lunch time. Hekki Kovalainen was at the wheel of the new car, which certainly looks the business but was clearly struggling with some teething problems.
Meanwhile a potential rival for Lotus this season, Toro Rosso, bounced back from a difficult first day of testing with over 60 laps and the seventh fastest time.
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