Michael Schumacher ended the first day of testing for the Chinese Grand Prix quickest with a time of 1:35.973, to put him almost two tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
The German led for much of the second part of the session as the teams looked to qualifying simulations before moving onto high fuel runs in the latter part.
The Mercedes super-DRS, which was deemed legal by the FIA following a Lotus protest on Thursday, clearly giving the W03 added benefit around the Shanghai circuit.
FP1 pacesetter Hamilton settled into second ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Six tenths back was Nico Rosberg in fifth and sixth was Jenson Button, neither team-mates troubling their counterparts further up the grid.
Paul di Resta landed eighth in his Force India ahead of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, with the car looking settled on the track, but unable to get the maximum from the soft tyre.
Several cars had off track excursions, thanks to lock-ups and the such, with only Timo Glock failing to make the end after he ended up in the gravel trap at turn one without his front-wing. He complained of wrist pain but is thought to be fine.
2012 Chinese GP FP2 Results:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:35.973 | 32 | |
| 02. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:36.145 | +0.172 | 29 |
| 03. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:36.160 | +0.187 | 27 |
| 04. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:36.433 | +0.460 | 24 |
| 05. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:36.617 | +0.644 | 31 |
| 06. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:36.711 | +0.738 | 28 |
| 07. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:36.956 | +0.983 | 28 |
| 08. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:36.966 | +0.993 | 31 |
| 09. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:37.191 | +1.218 | 31 |
| 10. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:37.316 | +1.343 | 32 |
| 11. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:37.417 | +1.444 | 22 |
| 12. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:37.616 | +1.643 | 33 |
| 13. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:37.836 | +1.863 | 30 |
| 14. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:37.930 | +1.957 | 32 |
| 15. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:37.972 | +1.999 | 26 |
| 16. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:38.176 | +2.203 | 35 |
| 17. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:38.293 | +2.320 | 31 |
| 18. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:38.783 | +2.810 | 37 |
| 19. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:38.990 | +3.017 | 36 |
| 20. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:39.346 | +3.373 | 20 |
| 21. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:39.651 | +3.678 | 15 |
| 22. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:40.343 | +4.370 | 25 |
| 23. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:40.753 | +4.780 | 30 |
| 24. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:41.125 | +5.152 | 26 |
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