Summary Kimi Raikkonen posted the fastest time in second practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
SEPANG, Malaysia (AP) - Kimi Raikkonen continued his surprisingly strong start to the Formula One season, posting the fastest time in second practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix, outpacing defending champion Sebastian Vettel before rain hit the circuit Friday.
The Lotus driver sent a clear message that his victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix was no fluke, as he edged triple world champion Vettel of Red Bull by .019 seconds.
Ferrari s Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso came in third and fourth followed by Vettel s teammate Mark Webber, who earlier was fastest in the first practice session.
It was another disappointing day for McLaren, which has struggled since revamping its race car in the offseason.
Sergio Perez, who joined McLaren from Sauber for this season was 11th followed by 2009 champion Jenson Button in 12th.
Kimi Raikkonen, world champion in 2007 and a surprise but emphatic winner at last week s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, dodged a heavy shower to clock the day s fastest time of 1min 36.569sec in the second session.
Red Bull s Sebastian Vettel, on the hunt for his fourth straight world title, was just two-hundredths of a second slower at the tropical Sepang circuit while Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were third and fourth for Ferrari.
Red Bull pilot Mark Webber, who led the opening 90-minute session, timed fifth in the second stanza while Lotus s Romain Grosjean, despite a bumpy excursion across the trackside grass, was sixth.
Nico Rosberg, Paul di Resta, Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil were the remaining top 10 drivers after a difficult session which was punctuated by a track-clearing deluge midway through.
Tropical heat and sudden downpours make the Malaysian Grand Prix one of the most demanding of the season with an extra challenge this year in preserving Formula One supplier Pirelli s new, faster-degrading tyres.
