» 2012 United States GP: Water leak fails to derail Friday’s fastest man, Sebastian Vettel

Not even a water leak could stop Sebastian Vettel in Texas, with the German wunderkind still managing to top the timesheets and lead a Red Bull Racing 1-2 as Friday’s practice action drew to a close at the United States Grand Prix.

Having already claimed top timesheet honours in the day’s first practice session, Vettel appeared to have some dramas as he was confined to the pit lane while his mechanics investigated a water leak in his RB8.

One back out on track, he promptly romped to the top of the timing screens once again, beating team-mate Mark Webber into submission with a time that was almost eight-tenths quicker than the Australian could manage, despite having almost twenty extra laps’ running in the ninety-minute session.

However, it must be stressed that one should be a little circumspect in reading too much into today’s lap times, as the gripless track surface continues to evolve as more rubber is laid down on the brand-new tarmac.

Fernando Alonso finished third-fastest in his Ferrari, ahead of the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button fourth and fifth.

Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa was sixth-fastest, followed by Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes, Bruno Senna’s Williams, Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber and the second Mercedes of Michael Schumacher.

Last-time race-winners Lotus finished outside of the top-ten, with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean sandwiching twelfth-fastest driver Pastor Maldonado, and they were hotly pursed by Sergio Perez, the two Toro Rossos and the two Force Indias.

2012 United States Formula 1 Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 Session Times:

	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:37.718		17
2.	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:38.475	+ 0.757	36
3.	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:38.483	+ 0.765	35
4.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:38.748	+ 1.030	31
5.	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:38.786	+ 1.068	32
6.	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:39.029	+ 1.311	33
7.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:39.448	+ 1.730	32
8.	Bruno Senna	Williams Renault FW34	1:39.531	+ 1.813	38
9.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:39.653	+ 1.935	36
10.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:40.115	+ 2.397	30
11.	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:40.166	+ 2.448	32
12.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault FW34	1:40.230	+ 2.512	35
13.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:40.286	+ 2.568	32
14.	Sergio Pérez	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:40.326	+ 2.608	35
15.	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:40.435	+ 2.717	30
16.	Jean-Éric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:40.516	+ 2.798	32
17.	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:40.700	+ 2.982	34
18.	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:41.430	+ 3.712	35
19.	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham Renault CT01	1:42.476	+ 4.758	38
20.	Timo Glock	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:42.652	+ 4.934	33
21.	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham Renault CT01	1:42.846	+ 5.128	38
22.	Charles Pic	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:43.538	+ 5.820	38
23.	Pedro de la Rosa	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:44.453	+ 6.735	16
24.	Narain Karthikeyan	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:45.114	+ 7.396	20