F1: Schumacher Moves Ahead In Wet P2

Formula 1

F1: Schumacher Moves Ahead In Wet P2

Michael Schumacher ran the quickest lap in the second round of Australian GP practice but it may not mean much come race time...

Jared Turner | Posted March 16, 2012 Melbourne (AUS)

The Formula One world will have to wait another day to get a clear picture of who has the horses for Sunday's season opener at Australia's Albert Park.

As with the opening round of practice at the Melbourne circuit, most of Friday's FP2 played out on a track still soggy from prior downpours.

The result was most drivers and teams opting to play it safe and not show their true hand, rather than risk tearing up equipment on the ultra-slippery surface.

Information gleaned from FP2 thus may not mean much for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, when the forecast is dry.

Nevertheless, even with most competitors tiptoeing around the 5.303-kilometer layout, the 90-minute session wasn't devoid of incidents.

Sergio Perez, Pastor Maldonado, Kamui Kobayashi, Daniel Ricciardo and Heikki Kovalainen each took a detour off course due to the wet conditions, but avoided major calamity.

Avoiding any such mishaps, and moving to the top of the time sheet at literally the final second, was the Mercedes W03 of Michael Schumacher.

The seven-time World Champion's best lap of 1:29:183 edged the surprising Force India of Nico Hulkenberg (1:29:292).

Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Kobayashi completed an atypical top five.

Positions six through 10 in time belonged to Paul Di Resta, Felipe Massa, Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg and reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

Only the HRT of Pedro de la Rosa failed to record a time.

Action picks back up at Albert Park with final practice, scheduled to get under way at 11 p.m. ET Friday.

Catch live streaming of the one-hour FP3 session on SPEED.com.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.