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 Fernando Alonso set the pace in the second of two free practice sessions at Hockenheim, taking advantage of a drying track to top the day's combined times.

Fernando Alonso claimed day one bragging rights for Ferrari at Hockenheim, posting the fastest time in second free practice as he and team-mate Felipe Massa mixed it with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber at the top of the timesheets.

Alonso and Vettel traded fastest times as the forecast rains held off and the German circuit slowly began to cast off the last of its tricky damp patches, eventually stopping the clocks at 1min 16.265secs to take top spot by the scant margin of 0.029secs. Ferrari team-mate Massa was third fastest, but over a tenth adrift of Vettel's time, with the second RB6 of Webber in fourth, three-tenths off the pace.

There was another couple of tenths back to fifth place, where Nico Rosberg comfortably edged out Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher, although the elder statesman will have no doubt been happier with his performance after languishing down in 23rd spot in the first session, complaining about the Three Pointed Star's F-duct system.