Hamilton just ahead in tight second practice in Shanghai

Lewis Hamilton led the way again in the second Friday free practice session for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.

However the Mercedes driver's edge over Kimi Raikkonen was just seven thousandths of a second. In total, just over a tenth covered the top four which included Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel.

The workmanlike session saw a handful of minor lock-ups and spins, and a problem for McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne. The arrival of light rain in the final quarter of an hour effectively brought FP2 to an early close.

Chinese Grand Prix - Free Practice 2

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:33.482s		26
2	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:33.489s	+ 0.007s	26
3	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:33.515s	+ 0.033s	27
4	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:33.590s	+ 0.108s	27
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:33.823s	+ 0.341s	26
6	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:34.313s	+ 0.831s	30
7	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:34.458s	+ 0.976s	26
8	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:34.473s	+ 0.991s	28
9	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:34.557s	+ 1.075s	26
10	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:34.632s	+ 1.150s	23
11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:34.792s	+ 1.310s	30
12	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:34.849s	+ 1.367s	33
13	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:34.874s	+ 1.392s	30
14	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:35.163s	+ 1.681s	22
15	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:35.333s	+ 1.851s	37
16	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:35.340s	+ 1.858s	31
17	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:35.624s	+ 2.142s	29
18	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	1:35.916s	+ 2.434s	26
19	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:36.471s	+ 2.989s	26
20	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:37.147s	+ 3.665s	19

The forecast rain had continued to hold off over lunchtime in Shanghai, although conditions remained grey and overcast. Of more trouble to the drivers was the strong headwind, which encouraged both Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen into early lock-ups and run-offs at turn 11.

The two Haas cars were first into action when the track opened for business. However it was Valtteri Bottas who set the first properly representative lap on soft tyres, clocking in at 1:34.387s on the soft compound just 12 minutes into the 90-minute session - already faster than he's managed in the morning.

Hamilton was the first man to complete a run on ultrasoft tyres. His lap of 1:33.482s was the fastest of the day, set shortly before the half hour mark. Bottas was able to get within 0.033s of his Mercedes team mate on his own run on the purple-marked compound.

Raikkonen's first stint had been curtailed with a software problem on the Ferrari. However this was soon rectified and he was able to insert himself into the narrow gap between the Mercedes drivers. His ultrasoft offering was just seven thousandths of a second off Hamilton, slotting him into second place.

Sebastian Vettel was also very much in contention in fourth, a fraction over a tenth away from Hamilton's top time. Max Verstappen was a further quarter of a second back for Red Bull.

There were no major incidents during the session, although both Lance Stroll (Williams) and Romain Grosjean (Haas) had proper spins at turns 8 and 11 respectively within moments of each other. There were also local waved yellows while Stoffel Vandoorne's McLaren was removed having stopped trackside with an apparent loose right-rear following a pit stop.

The second half of FP2 was dedicated to distance runs, as teams assessed the rate of tyre wear on the rough Shanghai surface. The final quarter hour also saw the start of drizzle which soon morphed into light rain, preventing anyone from challenging the timesheets before the chequered flag.

Behind the top five there was a full half second gap to Renault's Nico Hulkenberg and Haas' Kevin Magnussen. The second Renault of Carlos Sainz finished eighth fastest ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who'd had some early trouble getting a pedal map he was happy with for the Red Bull. The top ten was rounded out by Fernando Alonso in the McLaren.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.