The conditions improved slightly in the second free practice. Almost all drivers came out immediately to do their first fast laps. Nico Rosberg was the first of the faster drivers who went below 1 minute 17. The German set a 1:16.917 which was almost immediately beaten by Fernando Alonso's 1:16.408.

In the first half there were a couple of people making small mistakes. Pastor Maldonado, Heikki Kovalainen and Jaime Alguersuari missed the first corner and went wide. All were able to continue their session with a little help from the stewards. Fernando Alonso also had a small moment. The Spaniard almost hit his teammate at the Rascasse corner. The first real victim was Paul di Resta. The Brit had problems selecting a gear and had to stop his car on track.

At exactly the halfway mark the lap of Fernando Alonso that was set in the first minutes of the session was finally beaten. Sebastian Vettel on the supersoft tyres managed to do a 1:15.667. He was followed by Massa, Alonso and Rosberg. But he didn't have P1 for a long time as Alonso fitted new 'red' supersoft tyres and went even faster. Alonso made a huge jump and was an impressive half second faster than Vettel.

Nobody was able to beat that time again. When the checkered flag was waved Alonso led Hamilton, Rosberg, Button and Vettel. Mark Webber finished the day as eight.

Vitaly Petrov hit the wall in a similar way Liuzzi did in the morning session. The Russian managed the keep the car on track but suffered at least a broken front wing.