Melbourne: Force India’s rookie driver Nico Hulkenberg set the second fastest time in the rain-affected second free practice session for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix here on Friday.
The young German driver was 12th in the FP1 with a timing of 1:29.865 but improved his timing in the FP2 to 1:29.292 in 19 laps to be the second fastest driver of the day. Hulkenberg seemed to be fastest until the last minute when Mercedes’ Michael Schumcher dislodged with a timing of 1m 29.183s under tough weather conditions.
Red Bull’s defending champion Sebastian Vettel was 10th followed by his teammate Mark Webber.
The other Force India driver Paul Di Resta also did well as he was sixth (1:31.466) in the FP2 though he was faster in FP1 (1:29.881) but managed 13th position.
“Both FP1 and FP2 had mixed conditions, especially FP2 with the heavy rain, which arrived just before the start of the session. But we made the best of it and I ran on the full wets, the intermediates and the soft tyres when the track had dried out,” he said.
Hulkenberg though said today’s timings should not be considered seriously for obvious reasons. (Agencies)