FORMULA 1 Live

0' Eurosport blogger Nelson Piquet Jr has an electrical problem and has beached his R29.

0' And after all the final flying laps have been completed, Hamilton is indeed top of the pops in this afternoon session.

2' Kovalainen 19th but not running the upgraded car that Hamilton has at his disposal...

3' Vettel, Button, Webber and Trulli follow, and all four are eyeing a final waltz to win a few headlines.

7' Hamilton takes over top spot with 1:32.149!! A great recovery from the McLaren ace.

10' Hamilton with a publicity-friendly spin in the Mercedes Arena, taking a trip to the run-off area.

13' A few cars out to try and climb up that slippery ladder.

15' Rosberg back out as the rain eases off. No Button for some time now as the Brawn team make changes to his BGP001.

20' The top 16 drivers are within a second. Very close indeed. And the rain resumes!!

23' The rain still holding off on a grey day at the Nurburgring.

25' Vettel, like Hamilton, now on a new set of soft tyres. And he wastes no time in setting the quickest lap of 1:32.342.

27' Hamilton goes second in the McLaren MP4-24!! The reigning world champ looking good in this afternoon session.

30' ... but at present they seem able to do it in the cold too, having also taken second in FP1 via Button. Of course, things are less rosy for Brazilian Barrichello, despite sitting second in the championship.

32' Button leads the way after setting a lap-time of 1:32.369. Brawn have been accused of only doing it in the heat - specifically by our Fantasy expert On the Grid... Fantasy F1: On the grid in Germany

34' Fernando Alonso goes ninth fastest in the Renault R29.

37' Webber, the leader in first practice, still on top. Can he still win the drivers' championship? Drivers standings

38' Sutil is up to eighth in his Force India, although that becomes ninth almost immediately as Button sneaks in behind sixth-placed Hamilton.

42' Nakajima on soft tyres and he sets a quick time straight off, third in the list.

45' Hamilton sixth fastest, looking okay now - although he clips the kerb there to cause a bit of a wobble. No damage.

47' Webber quickest in 1:32.584 from Heidfeld, while Raikkonen has jumped into the top five.

49' Hamilton out and about after a problem with overheating bodywork caused a delay to his McLaren.

51' Trulli spins his Toyota at turn four but is back up and running immediately.

52' Button goes third before Vettel runs wide at the NGK Chicane.

54' Geoff Willis has been relieved of his role as technical director at Red Bull Racing: Willis laid off by Red Bull

56' Kimi Raikkonen back in the garage without having set a time. He has a hydraulics problem; Sutil's problem this morning was not related to hydraulics, it turns out. In other news, Force India had a scare before the day started when German police tried to impound the team's assets due to a dispute relating to their motorhome.

60' Finn Kova lowers the mark further to 1:33.724.

62' Kova lowers the mark to 1:34.906 on those tyres. There are still loads of dark clouds overhead.

65' Nico Rosberg sets a lap on hard dry tyres while Heikki Kovalainen now emerges on super-softs.

70' Hedifeld went straight back in and Bourdais follows suit after a little sniff around the circuit.

75' Nick Heidfeld takes his BMW Sauber out on wets. He has the track to himself. It isn't that wet though...

76' So an intial flurry of lap-times come to an end. Timo Glock, 19th this morning, is second from Trulli, Robert Kubica, Seb Buemi, Nick Heidfeld, Massa, Fisichella, Seb Bourdais, Webber, Kazuki Nakajima and Jenson Button.

78' That 'wet' announcement means the teams can use another set of tyres without it affecting the number they are restricted to over their weekend preparations.

80' The flags are out as the marshals clear away the damaged VJM02. He lost it due to the wet track - officially declared wet moments before by the stewards.

82' Vettel goes top of the early timesheets with 1:35.577. And Giancarlo Fisichella spins his Force India, putting it into the barriers at Michelin Kurve sideways on!!

83' Felipe Massa has gone back to his main front wing design after testing a new one this morning. Lewis Hamilton is again using his new wing.

85' Trulli takes a bit off that time as the rain begins to fall.

87' Rain is coming! Glock sets the first timed lap of 1:37.252.

88' Quite a few cars out straight away, with Sebastian Vettel the first. He suffered problems in the opening session: Webber leads Button in practice

90' As we get underway, the conditions are: 20 degrees air temp, 12 degrees track temp, 7.6 m/s wind speed and a massively-reduced 59 per cent humidity.

- Welcome to second practice for the German Grand Prix.