Heikki Kovalainen capped a fine opening day for McLaren at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he pipped Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time in second practice.
..Hamilton, who was quickest in the morning practice session, led for the majority of the second before his team-mate stole in with a 1:41.307 to seize the initiative.
The second session provided the drivers with close to race conditions as the sun slowly set across the sparsely populated and floodlit Yas Marina circuit.
Hamilton re-exerted his authority at the start of the session after the lead rapidly exchanged hands from the outset, as the McLaren driver shaved a full second off his fastest time in first practice.
Champion elect Jenson Button, who clearly relished his first race of the year with no pressure, was 0.096 slower than Hamilton as the pair looked set to replicate their performance in the morning, until Kovalainen beat them both.
With track temperatures of 35 degrees centigrade and a new but dusty surface, the leading drivers again bided their time before making their final runs with Kovalainen the prime exponent of the conditions.
Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa were side-by-side as they scrutinised the Ferrari monitors in the pits as Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella again failed to mount a challenge.
Romain Grosjean ran off the track at turn 17 - the tight right-hander - while Robert Kubica experienced engine failure at turn seven as both languished in the bottom quarter of the timesheet in an otherwise serene session.
Hamilton was among the drivers to exploit the softer, faster option tyre early on and his 1:41.564 stood unchallenged until Kovalainen's final stint as the McLaren duo set the early pace at the magnificently lit Yas Marina circuit.
McLaren dominate Abu Dhabi practice.
