For a while in Spain on Friday afternoon, when Sebastian Vettel was 1.960s ahead of anyone else, rivals feared the worst. But by the end of a second practice session in which the world champion finished third, the gap between Vettel and fastest man Mark Webber was 0.356s.
And in between the two Red Bull team mates, a threatening Lewis Hamilton was only 0.039s adrift of the Australian for McLaren.