The Spaniard, competing in his second home race on the calendar, crossed the line with a 1:39.283 to edge Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel by 0.056s. Third place went to Mark Webber while Nico Rosberg had to settle for fourth place after initially being involved in an interesting battle for the Red Bulls for supremacy.
Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica, Felipe Massa and Adrian Sutil completed the top eight.
Report: The track temperature was sitting at a rather warm 45'C as the second practice session got underway around the streets of Valencia. Fernando Alonso was the first to set a time as the Ferrari driver embarked on a five-lap tyre run, a 1:40.850 for the Spaniard. His team-mate Felipe Massa slotted in to second place ahead of Robert Kubica, Vitaly Petrov, Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil, Kamui Kobayashi, Timo Glock, Rubens Barrichello and Sebastien Buemi.
Massa took the P1 slot off Alonso, 0.043s up on his team-mate despite a small slide through Turn Two. However, his reign was short-lived as Lewis Hamilton went quickest and he too would've lost out quickly had it not been for a backmarker holding up Alonso in the third sector as the Spaniard has posted purple times in sectors one and two. Jenson Button overhauled his team-mate, 0.039s up.
The McLarens didn't stay on top for long as first Massa and then Alonso went quickest, the latter clocking a 1:39.928. Robert Kubica also edged the McLarens, taking third place. Button slotted in between the Ferraris while F1 fans waited for both Red Bulls and Mercedes GP drivers to enter the fray.
Michael Schumacher was the first of those four to do so, taking seventh place despite a few moments with the back end of his W01. Nico Rosberg had a slow first lap as he ran wide while Mark Webber went seventh and Sebastian Vettel took 18th place. Vettel improved to second place, taking the fight to Alonso with Sutil in third place ahead of Button, Kubica, Rosberg, Massa and Webber. Vettel was the next to set the pace, a 1:39.728 for the Red Bull racer, who is in need of a victory here this weekend.
The session was red flagged as Massa lost control of his Ferrari, stalling the car in the middle of the track after sliding out of Turn Five. The Brazilian walked away rather dejected. Five minutes later the action resumed.
Nico Rosberg moved up to third place behind Vettel and Alonso while Webber climbed to fourth and Kubica to seventh. Rosberg continued lapping, taking the P1 slot before Vettel hit the front again. However, his time on top didn't last long as Webber moved ahead only for Vettel to again go quickest.
Timo Glock's session came to a premature halt when the German parked his Virgin Racing car on the side of the track. Not a happy man at all.
Putting on the softer option Bridgestone tyres, Alonso hit the front with a 1:39.283. Massa, back on track after his F10 was returned to his team's garage, improved to seventh place. Petrov's chances of improving where lost when he spun his Renault.
Despite using the softer tyres, many of the drivers weren't able to improve on their lap times. However, they were taking several off-track excursions with Kubica, Vettel and Webber having to make use of the run-off areas.
With all 24 drivers out on track in the final fives, traffic proved to be a bit of problems with Hamilton almost running into the back of Schumacher as the German tried to get out of his way. And that's where the session ended.
Times:
01. Alonso Ferrari 1m39.283s 33 laps
02. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m39.339s + 0.056s 27 laps
03. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m39.427s + 0.144s 29 laps
04. Rosberg Mercedes 1m39.650s + 0.367s 22 laps
05. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.749s + 0.466s 24 laps
06. Kubica Renault 1m39.880s + 0.597s 28 laps
07. Massa Ferrari 1m39.947s + 0.664s 22 laps
08. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m40.020s + 0.737s 30 laps
09. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m40.029s + 0.746s 27 laps
10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m40.174s + 0.891s 33 laps
11. Schumacher Mercedes 1m40.287s + 1.004s 24 laps
12. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m40.387s + 1.104s 33 laps
13. Petrov Renault 1m40.618s + 1.335s 29 laps
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.906s + 1.623s 34 laps
15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.945s + 1.662s 30 laps
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.115s + 1.832s 35 laps
17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m41.371s + 2.088s 30 laps
18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.457s + 2.174s 36 laps
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m42.467s + 3.184s 31 laps
20. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m42.993s + 3.710s 30 laps
21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m43.811s + 4.528s 14 laps
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m43.854s + 4.571s 27 laps
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m44.095s + 4.812s 24 laps
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m44.566s + 5.283s 21 laps
Source: Planet-F1
