Spectators hoping to see some driving in FP2 had a frustrating wait. A heavy rain shower that set in right on cue before the start of the session ensured that the teams only ventured out in fits and starts. The decent-sized crowd that had turned out for Friday practice were left to contemplate how best to keep their packed lunches dry.

Action on the track was meanwhile restricted to cameo appearances by the likes of Timo Glock, Jaime Alguersuari and Heikki Kovalainen. One hour before the close of session, only eight drivers had set a time. And because there was so little traffic, highlights had been few and far between. Nico Rosberg provided a brief flurry of excitement when he just avoided spinning off track. But the fans at least got to see some competition in the last half hour.

The best-performing drivers were those who were prepared to take a few risks in the difficult conditions and pushed themselves to the limit. For a long time, that was Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Buemi who kept swapping place at the top of the timesheets as they ploughed through a lot of standing water. As the tarmac began to dry out slightly, Mark Webber was the first to finally try out the intermediates, albeit at a gingerly pace. He eventually claimed top spot and stayed there for a while before others started to whittle away at his lead.

This late burst of activity saw Felipe Massa take the afternoon honours with a time of 1:49.967 minutes. The Brazilian completed a mere nine laps, but he was by no means the only one to restrict his tally to single figures. Nico Rosberg finished the day 0.777 seconds behind. Twice as much adrift on the leader was Kamui Kobayashi in third. The remaining Top Ten places were filled by Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil, Paul di Resta, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastien Buemi and Sergio Perez. Michael Schumacher ended the session in twelfth on wets, while Sebastian Vettel's four laps left him way back in 18th.