Although it was by no means the gap he had in Practice One, Sebastian Vettel was still the man to beat on Friday afternoon in China.
Vettel dominated Practice One in Shanghai, 0.6s up on his team-mate Mark Webber and over two seconds quicker than third-placed Lewis Hamilton.
However, his rivals closed the gap in Practice Two where Vettel crossed the line with a 1:37.688, only 0.166s ahead of Hamilton.
Jenson Button was third for McLaren, finishing ahead of the Mercedes GP drivers, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. The German team-mates were both within half a second of Vettel's P1 time.
Report: The track temperature was up at 35'C as Friday's second practice in Shanghai began. The drivers were quickly out on track with Sebastien Buemi posting a 1:43.655 to get proceedings underway. The Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi slotted in behind him. Buemi's reign, though, was short-lived as first Lewis Hamilton and then Jenson Button crossed the line. Michael Schumacher went third with Nick Heidfeld behind him.
Jaime Alguersuari was the first spinner of the afternoon but managed to keep his car on track and return to his Toro Rosso garage.
Three purple sector times had Button lower the benchmark to a 1:39.431 while Nico Rosberg went third quickest behind the two McLarens. Vitaly Petrov was seen waving a hand at Felipe Massa after the two came very close to touching. Clearly, Petrov deemed that to be the Ferrari driver's fault. Fernando Alonso found some pace, slotting into third place behind the two McLarens.
Rosberg was the next to lead the way with a 1:38.912. Pastor Maldonado broke up the McLarens, taking third place while Heidfeld went P6, slotting in between Alonso and Massa. Perez lost control on the dusty track, shooting off the track. Thankfully, though, he shot right back onto it.
Massa took over from Rosberg at the front before the Mercedes GP driver came back, retaking the position with a 1:37.943. More woes for Lotus Renault as Heidfeld, for the second successive session, put his car nose first into the barriers. This time it was a slide at Turn Two that caught the German out, however, he managed to get his car onto short track at the back of the circuit, giving his Renault mechanics the opportunity to push his car into the pits.
Massa joined the list of those meeting the run-off areas while Schumacher joined his team-mate at the front of the timesheets, 0.162s behind Rosberg. Massa was third as his team-mate Alonso was stuck in the pits with a hydraulics issue. Button, Mark Webber, Kobayashi, Maldonado and Hamilton completed the top eight with 30 minutes remaining.
The two McLarens came to the fore with Hamilton edging Button. Their reign, though, was over rather fast as Vettel crossed the line with a 1:37.688. Heidfeld returned the action, taking eighth place. Webber fan wide at Turn 13 as the Aussie pushed hard. He was down in 10th place, 1.6s behind his team-mate.
The session ended with Vettel quickest, followed by Hamilton, Button, Rosberg, Schumacher and Massa.
Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:37.688 34 laps
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:37.854 22 laps
03. Jenson Button McLaren 01:37.935 31 laps
04. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:37.943 34 laps
05. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 01:38.105 29 laps
06. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:38.507 38 laps
07. Adrian Sutil Force India 01:38.735 35 laps
08. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:38.805 28 laps
09. Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:38.859 31 laps
10. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:39.327 33 laps
11. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:39.538 33 laps
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:39.867 37 laps
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 01:39.771 18 laps
14. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:39.779 17 laps
15. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 01:39.828 25 laps
16. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:39.925 32 laps
17. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:39.953 30 laps
18. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 01:40.476 30 laps
19. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 01:41.482 32 laps
20. Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1 Team 01:42.902 25 laps
21. Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT F1 Team 01:43.850 3 laps
22. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:44.008 35 laps
23. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:44.747 12 laps
24. Paul di Resta Force India no time
