Vettel sets Shanghai pace

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel completed a clean sweep during practice on Friday for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

The defending world champion, who went quickest during the first session at the Shanghai International Circuit, later topped the timesheet in session two as well.

Vettel lapped the 5.451-km track in a time of one minute 37.688 seconds in his Red Bull to go 0.166secs faster than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

It was a low-key session for Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber, however, with the Australian concentrating on longer runs to finish down in 10th place, 1.6secs down on the German.

Vettel has enjoyed a perfect start to the season to date, having won both the opening races in Australia and Malaysia from pole position.

Were he to complete a hat-trick this weekend, Vettel would become the first driver to win the opening three races of a season since Michael Schumacher in 2004.

Jenson Button, who currently lies second in the drivers' championship albeit 24 points behind Vettel, was third in the afternoon practice session, just a tenth down on McLaren team-mate Hamilton.

McLaren tested upgrades to the exhaust and floor on their MP4-26 chassis on Friday and could use them this weekend as they try to close the gap to Red Bull.

Mercedes looked in better shape than they had in first practice, with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher ending the afternoon fourth and fifth respectively.

The pair had topped the timesheets with 30 minutes remaining after switching to the softer Pirelli tyre.

Battle

Felipe Massa was sixth for Ferrari, although his team-mate Fernando Alonso battled with hydraulic problems during the session and could only manage 14th after completing just 17 laps.

Adrian Sutil was seventh for Force India, although a fuel pressure problem prevented team-mate Paul di Resta from taking to the track at all during session two.

Meanwhile, Renault's Nick Heidfeld spun for the second time in as many sessions when he ran wide at turn two.

The German damaged the front wing of his R31 - as he did after a spin in the opening practice session - but was able to slowly recover to the pit lane.

He ended the session eighth quickest, one place ahead of team-mate Vitaly Petrov.

Sauber, Williams and Toro Rosso again held the midfield positions, while Lotus, Virgin and Hispania brought up the rear as usual.

Lotus pair Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli were best of the slowest group of teams, while it was an encouraging session for Hispania.

Drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi finished 20th and 21st, comfortably ahead Virgin duo Jerome d'Ambrosio and Timo Glock.

Times

1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1:37.688

2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:37.854

3. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1:37.935

4. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:37.943

5. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 1:38.105

6. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:38.507

7. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 1:38.735

8. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Renault 1:38.805

9. Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 1:38.859

10. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1:39.327

11. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber 1:39.538

12. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1:39.667

13. Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso 1:39.771

14. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1:39.779

15. Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso 1:39.828

16. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams 1:39.925

17. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 1:39.953

18. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Lotus 1:40.476

19. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Lotus 1:41.482

20. Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT 1:42.902

21. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) HRT 1:43.850

22. Jerome d'Ambrosio (Belgium) Virgin 1:44.008

23. Timo Glock (Germany) Virgin 1:44.747

Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India no time