McLaren once again proved a factor in the second free practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix, as this time Heikki Kovalainen dominated the time sheets for much of the session.
In a session where the top 16 cars were covered by less than 0.8sec, Kovalainen moved to the top of the times a third of the way through. But not before teammate Lewis Hamilton – who had been quickest for much of the first session – and Kazuki Nakajima had enjoyed spells in P1.
Behind the Finn at that point, Fernando Alonso and Robert Kubica were within 0.215sec, Nakajima fourth and Sebastian Vettel – who stopped at Turn 2 with a suspected driveshaft problem after half an hour – fifth.
Not much changed in the order during the session as teams worked through their programs, other than two spins for Hamilton, who topped a long list of drivers that went the wrong side of the curbs, and Ferrari's drivers complaining that they were not happy on the soft, option, green-walled Bridgestones.
In fact, the softer tires proved to be slower in general across the board. Alonso bolted on a set with five minutes of the session to go and went quicker in the first sector, but the performance of his lap dropped off through the remaining two.
The double World Champion tried again and looked to have stolen the top spot, but lost out to Kovalainen by 0.006sec on his last lap. Kubica remained in third place, bringing some smiles to the BMW garage.
Nakajima ended up fourth, having tripped over Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella in the final chicane following a bizarre incident where neither appeared to give room to the other. Vettel was fifth, Jarno Trulli sixth, Nico Rosberg seventh and Rubens Barrichello the fastest of the Brawns in eighth.
Mark Webber and Nelson Piquet completed the top 10. Felipe Massa was the fastest Ferrari in 11th, ahead of world championship leader Jenson Button and Hamilton.
TIMES:Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:28.841 37
2. Alonso Renault (B) 1:28.847 + 0.006 35
3. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:29.056 + 0.215 35
4. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:29.091 + 0.250 37
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:29.202 + 0.361 4
6. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:29.207 + 0.366 40
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:29.257 + 0.416 40
8. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:29.305 + 0.464 34
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:29.383 + 0.542 39
10. Piquet Renault (B) 1:29.401 + 0.560 38
11. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:29.416 + 0.575 37
12. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:29.430 + 0.589 32
13. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:29.435 + 0.594 31
14. Glock Toyota (B) 1:29.518 + 0.677 40
15. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:29.520 + 0.679 33
16. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:29.550 + 0.709 40
17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:30.081 + 1.240 32
18. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:30.091 + 1.250 37
19. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:30.295 + 1.454 39
20. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:30.629 + 1.788 36
All Timing Unofficial