Alonso sizzles in second practice

Fernando Alonso enjoyed what Ferrari described as "a reasonable day" after leading the way at the end of practice for the European Grand Prix.

After failing to score points for the first time this season at the last grand prix in Canada following a collision with winner Jenson Button, Alonso currently trails reigning champion Sebastian Vettel by a distant 92 points.
It means there can be no room for error from Alonso or Ferrari over the next four races prior to the summer break in August if they are to close such a yawning gap.
At least over the 25 turns that make up the Valencia Street Circuit that meanders its way through the port that staged the America's Cup in 2007, Alonso posted a positive practice performance.
The double world champion set a time of one minute, 37.968 seconds for the 5.419km track, just under four tenths of a second slower than last year's pole time set by Vettel.
Alonso finished 0.227secs quicker than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who has had to settle for second in each of his three visits here.
Vettel, who had finished 16th and 2.5secs behind Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber at the end of the first 90-minute session as the duo clearly ran different strategies, was back on the pace in FP2 as he was 0.297secs down on Alonso.
Overall, the top seven were covered by just over half-a-second, with Mercedes' Michael Schumacher fourth quickest ahead of Felipe Massa in his Ferrari, McLaren's Jenson Button and Webber.
Another half a second was then the gap to Mercedes' Nico Rosberg who was followed by the Renault duo of Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov.
Adrian Sutil was 11th in his Force India, finishing three places and 0.7secs quicker than team-mate Paul di Resta, however the Scot produced a remarkable late performance.
Forced to sit out the first practice session as reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg took up his seat, the German emerged the only casualty of the day as he crashed out after 22 minutes.
The damage looked relatively minimal although the rear-left wheel buckled after Hulkenberg made contact with a wall.
However, after replacing the floor, Di Resta did not emerge until 11 minutes from the end of FP2, managing a mere seven laps.
The 25-year-old finished a creditable 14th as Williams pair Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado sandwiched the Force India duo.
Jaime Alguersuari also endured a frustrating afternoon as mechanical issues with his Toro Rosso - which included the replacement of a gearbox - saw him sit out the entire session.
Again Hispania's Narain Karthikeyan was last of those who set a time, the Indian improving by just 0.020secs on his time in FP1 and nine seconds adrift of Alonso.
To underline such a poor performance, the fastest time following GP2 practice from Jules Bianchi was only 0.7secs slower than the Hispania driver.
European GP Second Practice times
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m37.968 35 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.195 + 0.227 26 laps
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m38.265 + 0.297 31 laps
4. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m38.315 + 0.347 30 laps
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m38.443 + 0.475 32 laps
6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.483 + 0.515 30 laps
7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m38.531 + 0.563 26 laps
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.981 + 1.013 33 laps
9. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m39.040 + 1.072 35 laps
10. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m39.586 + 1.618 27 laps
11. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m39.626 + 1.658 31 laps
12. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m40.020 + 2.052 34 laps
13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m40.301 + 2.333 34 laps
14. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m40.363 + 2.395 7 laps
15. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m40.454 + 2.486 32 laps
16. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.531 + 2.563 37 laps
17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m42.083 + 4.115 34 laps
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m42.156 + 4.188 39 laps
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m42.239 + 4.271 25 laps
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m42.273 + 4.305 21 laps
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m42.809 + 4.841 36 laps
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m44.460 + 6.492 29 laps
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m46.906 + 8.938 16 laps