Mark Webber Fastest In Shortened Final Practice Session At Canada
Mark Webber has ended a shortened third and final practice session fastest overall for Red Bull, in drying conditions around Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The Australian ace produced the time in the dying seconds of the session, and was followed by Adrian Sutil in 2nd and Lewis Hamilton in 3rd.
Once again the teams and drivers were greeted with damp weather conditions around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the start of the third and final practice session, which was frustratingly delayed for 30 minutes due to repairs being carried out on the barriers at Turn 11. This was due to a heavy incident earlier in the day during the Ferrari Challenge support event, and required a lengthy delay as repairs were carried out.
Eventually it was confirmed that the session would begin at 10:30 local time, and would last only for 30 minutes. This led to a hectic final practice session, as the entire field instantly took to the track on both the intermediate and full wet tyres in a bid to finalize their preparations for the weekend ahead. The Caterham duo were the first to take to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with Giedo van der Garde in particular setting the initial benchmark with a 01:30.873. The times naturally tumbled drastically as the session progressed, with Esteban Gutierrez and then Sergio Perez rising to the top with the latter producing a 01:27.984.
Adrian Sutil then rose to the top for Force India, before former Canadian Grand Prix winner Jenson Button continued to lower the benchmark with an impressive 01:26.340. Esteban Gutierrez, Nico Hulkenberg and then Valtteri Bottas rose to the top, with the latter producing a 01:25.126 before team-mate Pastor Maldonado disposed of his rookie team-mate. However, Valtteri Bottas immediately bounced back with a 01:24.314.
Although the track conditions continued to improve, many drivers were unwilling to switch to Pirelli’s P Zero range of tyres as wet patches continued to linger around the circuit. Giedo van der Garde ran extensively wide at Turns 3 and 4, skipping across the grass and narrowly avoiding the tyre barriers. Nico Hulkenberg then rose to the top for Sauber, with the Hinwil-based outfit continuing to search for improvements after a disappointing day yesterday.
Felipe Massa and then Esteban Gutierrez rose to the top, before the entire field switched to Pirelli’s P Zero dry tyres for the final few minutes of the final practice session. Sergio Perez was the first man to do so on the medium tyres, however he soon switch to the super-soft compound as did the entire field. Felipe Massa produced the first fastest dry lap of the session for Ferrari with a 01:22.482, before Kimi Raikkonen, Pastor Maldonado and then Jenson Button continued to lower the benchmark on slick rubber with the latter producing a 01:20.520.
As the checkered flag emerged, the times continued to tumble drastically with Paul di Resta, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil and then Mark Webber all rising to the top. However, it was the Australian sensation who eventually ended the session fastest overall for Red Bull, after producing a 01:17.895 in the dying seconds of the session. Although the session ended in drying conditions, uncertainty still surrounds the weather forecast for the all-important qualifying hour later in the afternoon.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m17.895s 7 2. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m18.248s + 0.353s 8 3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m18.732s + 0.837s 7 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m18.977s + 1.082s 10 5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m19.131s + 1.236s 6 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m19.457s + 1.562s 7 7. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m19.496s + 1.601s 6 8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m19.750s + 1.855s 9 9. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m19.790s + 1.895s 9 10. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m20.316s + 2.421s 8 11. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m20.596s + 2.701s 9 12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m21.035s + 3.140s 12 13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m21.364s + 3.469s 7 14. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m21.652s + 3.757s 9 15. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.021s + 4.126s 14 16. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.720s + 4.825s 15 17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m23.058s + 5.163s 7 18. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m23.132s + 5.237s 14 19. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.309s + 5.414s 8 20. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m23.620s + 5.725s 12 21. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m24.317s + 6.422s 12 22. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m26.195s + 8.300s 9
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Lewis Hamilton Hoping For Dry Malaysian GP After Qualifying Fourth
Lewis Hamilton is hoping for a dry Malaysian Grand Prix, after the Briton qualified a strong 4th for the 56-lap race during the wet conclusion of the imperative qualifying hour. Although Lewis Hamilton believes the balance could have been better on his car, he is remaining positive after securing another strong grid position for the race.
Throughout the weekend Lewis Hamilton has remained extremely competitive towards the sharp-end of the order, along with the likes of Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. Despite minor balance issues for the 2008 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton’s strong pace continued into qualifying which saw him eventually out-qualify his team-mate for the second consecutive weekend. Nico Rosberg has also been quick throughout the weekend, yet struggled once the rain began to fall.
Although Lewis Hamilton managed to qualify 4th for the race in the inclement weather conditions which struck the circuit, the Briton is hopeful that the 56-lap race on Sunday will remain dry as he aims for another strong result for the German marque. However, rain is predicted, and could well create utter mayhem when it arrives.
“I’m pretty happy with fourth place considering the conditions today.” Explained Lewis Hamilton, who last year secured pole position with McLaren. “The car was not too bad in the dry but the balance could have been a lot better, then it was pretty tricky conditions in the wet during Q3. We did our lap with older tyres than the guys in front, which was a bit unfortunate, but our pace was good overall so I can’t complain. It’s the second race on the second row for me and there are lots of positives to take out of the weekend so far. Our long run pace looked pretty good compared to the other teams so I’m hoping for dry conditions tomorrow.”
Lewis Hamilton has yet to win a race around Kuala Lumpur’s Sepang International Circuit, and is remaining realistic in not expecting a victory during tomorrow’s race. However, another decent points haulage for the Briton is on the cards in what could be a topsy-turvy race affected greatly by the weather and the extreme tyre degradation.
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Lewis Hamilton Believes The Weather Will Make The Race A Lottery
Lewis Hamilton believes the inclement weather forecast for tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix will make the race a lottery, with the expected treacherous track conditions set to level the playing field. This was the case during the last race that was heavily affected by rain in Malaysia, where Sergio Perez almost clinched victory for Sauber.
Despite a front-row lock-out by McLaren, Lewis Hamilton strongly believes the weather could have a big say in who eventually takes the checkered flag for victory. Although the forecast rain could make the race much more difficult for McLaren to win, Lewis Hamilton is not bothered by the rain which is expected on race day. The Briton has taken numerous victories in the wet, most notably at the 2007 Japanese and 2008 British Grands Prix.
“Well, I think the weather is going to be tricky tomorrow so it’s definitely going to make it more of a lottery.” Explained Lewis Hamilton, after securing McLaren’s 155th pole position. “But I think, as Jenson [Button] said, we’ve put ourselves in a really good position and we are just going to do the best job we can from there and work together as a team, the best we have been for quite some time, so we will make sure we will do absolutely everything to get the top result.”
Many teams up and down the grid, such as Mercedes, have opted for a wet set-up for the race, hence their slightly uncompetitive qualifying performance. McLaren on the other hand set their car up to attack during qualifying, instead of focusing too much on the weather forecast for the race. However, Lewis Hamilton explained that a wet set-up is no longer vastly different to a dry set-up, and that he does not mind if it rains during the race.
“Generally nowadays you don’t even really have much of a wet set-up.” Continued Lewis Hamilton, “It’s not like in karting when you soften everything off. The set-up in the dry and the wet is very, very similar – apart from ride heights maybe. We’ve just set the car to attack the qualifying and we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. We [will] just have to wait and see, make sure we get our tyre pressures right, make sure we get the tyre temperatures right and the brake temperatures and try to steer clear of any big puddles. I don’t mind. I love driving in the rain.”
Lewis Hamilton’s confidence in the rain could prove to be a race winning factor come race day, however the nature of the Interlagos circuit could see the race run in dry conditions. With the weather at Interlagos almost as unpredictable as Spa-Francorchamps, tomorrows’s 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix could see the drivers use all three types of tyre [dry, intermediate and full wet] as they battle the elements around the Interlagos circuit.
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Mark Webber Not Prepared To Assist Sebastian Vettel During The Race
Mark Webber has explained how he is not preparing to assist team-mate Sebastian Vettel during tomorrow’s 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix, despite the German’s necessity for a competitive result as he strives to clinch his third successive Drivers’ Championship. Sebastian Vettel will start the race alongside team-mate Mark Webber in 4th.
During the FIA post-qualifying press conference, Mark Webber stressed that he will only be focused on his own race tomorrow and that he will simply be aiming to get the finish line as quickly as possible. These comments from Mark Webber indicate that Sebastian Vettel will have to overtake his team-mate without team orders, as he aims to take victory and his third successive Championship during tomorrow’s 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix.
“Well, I think we focus on ourselves tomorrow, do the cleanest race I can.” Explained Mark Webber, “We know there may be some tricky weather tomorrow. It’s a long Grand Prix and I’ll be focused 100 percent on my efforts in my cockpit and get to the finish line as quick as possible.”
If the inclement weather which is forecast for the race does strike the circuit tomorrow, Mark Webber has every chance to take what would be a third victory around the Interlagos circuit for the Australian. However, the pace of the McLaren duo is extremely fearsome this weekend, and both Webber and Vettel could well find themselves in the wake of both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button if tomorrow’s race remains dry.
Sebastian Vettel on the other hands does not see his grid position as disaster for tomorrow’s race, despite the German qualifying much lower than normal. Since the Singapore Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull have enjoyed a highly competitive resurgence, which has greatly assisted the German’s Championship surge of late. Vettel has only one aim on his mind for tomorrow’s race, which is to attack the drivers ahead of him and clinch not only the Drivers’ Championship but also the race victory.
“We finished fourth today, which maybe is not the best position we could have got, but we can be quite happy and starting fourth is not a disaster,” explained Sebastian Vettel, who has started from pole six times so far this season. “There are more people behind us than in front. I’m happy with fourth and there are plenty of opportunities for tomorrow. I’m not worried. We have mirrors in the car but hopefully we won’t have to use them. As soon as the lights go off we will try to attack the guys in front.”
If Fernando Alonso fails to finish on the podium tomorrow, then Sebastian Vettel doesn’t even need to finish the race. However, if the Spaniard manages to finish either 1st, 2nd or 3rd, then for Vettel to become Champion he will need to respond by at least finishing 4th, 7th or 10th respectively. Once again the Championship finale will undoubtedly be a nail-biting affair, which has many permutations which could alter which driver is crowned Champion for a third time.
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Heikki Kovalainen Believes Q2 Was Possible At Brazil
Heikki Kovalainen believes he and Caterham had a chance to progress to Q2 during the wet/dry qualifying session for the Brazilian Grand Prix, which saw he Finn become one of the first drivers to tip-toe around the still relatively wet Interlagos circuit at the start of the session.
Throughout the final sector of the lap, the track conditions were exceedingly treacherous as the majority of the field slid their way around the Interlagos circuit on Pirelli’s dry tyre compound. On his first timed lap, Heikki Kovalainen came perilously close to colliding with the Marussia of Timo Glock, as the two jostled for track position. With Marussia currently ahead of Caterham in the Constructors’ Championship, grid position for the 71-lap race was extra imperative. However, Kovalainen believes Q2 was possible during qualifying, despite eventually qualifying for the race 20th.
“At the start of qualifying it was quite tricky as there was some standing water on track in the first couple of laps and even though the grip levels improved there was still less grip than in FP3.” Explained Heikki Kovalainen, “In the end the times kept coming down and maybe we had a chance to get into Q2, but we can be reasonably happy with how it finished. On my final lap I made a couple of small mistakes, but apart from that I was close to getting as much as I could out of the car so now we move on to tomorrow.”
With the Finn’s future in Formula 1 looking severely bleak after this season, especially with the signing of Frenchman Charles Pic, Heikki Kovalainen will unquestionably be striving for a competitive result as he and the team aim to thwart Marussia. With tomorrow’s weather forecast predicting rain for the race, a competitive result could well be on the cards as the season draws to a conclusion.
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Lewis Hamilton Heads A McLaren Front-Row Lock-Out At The Brazilian GP
Lewis Hamilton has kept McLaren on top at the Brazilian Grand Prix, as the Briton stormed to his 26th career pole. The Mercedes-bound driver will start tomorrow’s race alongside team-mate Jenson Button, with the second row consisting of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Fernando Alonso will start a distant 8th for Ferrari.
After a light rain shower prior to the start of Q1, the track was extremely greasy as the drivers took to the Interlagos circuit. Heikki Kovalainen once again became the first driver to take to the track, opting for dry weather tyres as he led out a procession of awaiting drivers. The track was exceedingly wet throughout the final two corners, as the drivers struggled for grip on the dry tyres. This saw the Marussia of Timo Glock almost collided with the Caterham of Heikki Kovalainen. The German set the initial pace, however the times quickly improved as the opening session wore on.
Kamui Kobayashi and Jean-Eric Vergne began trading fastest times at the top as the session continued, with the Frenchman eventually thwarting the Sauber’s time at the top. However, once the big boys emerged from the pits, the fastest time changed nearly every second as the likes of Pastor Maldonado, Bruno Senna, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Nico Rosberg and Paul di Resta each momentarily set the fastest time throughout the session.
Lewis Hamilton finally set a 01:16.147, as Romain Grosjean made slight contact with the HRT of Pedro de la Rosa during the final sweeping curve. The Frenchman lost his front wing in the ensuing collision, however the duo were extremely lucky that the incident was not heavier. As Grosjean limped back to the pits without a front wing, local hero Bruno Senna rose to the top with a 01:15.955. Lewis Hamilton once again returned to the top, as the battle between the bottom seven drivers intensified as the usual suspects strove to improve up the order.
Eventually the usual suspects of the two Caterhams, Marussias and HRTs were joined by a dispirited Romain Grosjean, who was unable to set a fast enough time after his misfortunate collision with the HRT of Pedro de la Rosa.
As Q2 got underway at the Interlagos circuit, the track conditions had basically returned to normal, as the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne became the first to return to the track. After the unknown entity which was Q1, largely due to the slightly adverse track conditions, Q2 was a return to normality for the teams and drivers as Nico Hulkenberg set the initial pace with a 01:14.810. Fernando Alonso instantly thwarted the German’s advantage, as the Championship contender strove for a decent qualifying position after initially struggling throughout practice.
Lewis Hamilton then asserted his authority over proceedings, as the Briton set a 01:13.398, as McLaren once again showed their scintillating pace around the Interlagos circuit. However, Sebastian Vettel was close at hand and immediately raised the bar as he stormed across the line to set a 01:13.209 to go fastest. The Ferraris once again struggled towards the end of the session, as both Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso only just managed to progress to the top ten shootout. Both Paul di Resta, Bruno Senna, Sergio Perez, Michael Schumacher, Kamui Kobayashi, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne were eliminated after Q2.
The all-important top ten shootout got underway as Nico Rosberg decided to become the first driver to take to the track. The Mercedes driver proceeded to set the initial pace around the Interlagos circuit, however his time was not entirely representative of the team’s true pace with a 01:22.398. Lewis Hamilton completely blitzed that time with a tremendously quick 01:12.850, as the majority of the field decided to pit for a fresh set of tyres for their final qualifying runs. Sebastian Vettel made a crucial error whilst negotiating the exit of Turn 4, and had only one lap to produce the goods for Red Bull.
As the final laps were set, first blood went to Mark Webber who set a 01:12.581, however Lewis Hamilton kept McLaren on top with an absolutely superlative 01:12.458. Jenson Button slotted into 2nd position to secure McLaren’s 62nd front-row lock-out, as Mark Webber qualified 3rd with Championship leader Sebastian Vettel 4th. Fernando Alonso could only manage a distant 8th, once again being out-qualified by team-mate Felipe Massa.
Despite the possibility of rain decreasing slightly for tomorrow’s 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix, the prospect for another intense title showdown is on the cards as Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso aim to thwart one another in what is still believed to be a wet season finale!
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m12.458s 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m12.513s + 0.055 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m12.581s + 0.123 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m12.760s + 0.302 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m12.987s + 0.529 6. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m13.174s + 0.716 7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m13.206s + 0.748 8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m13.253s + 0.795 9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m13.298s + 0.840 10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m13.489s + 1.031 Q2 cut-off time: 1m14.048s Gap ** 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m14.121s + 0.912 12. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m14.219s + 1.010 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.234s + 1.025 14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m14.334s + 1.125 15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.380s + 1.171 16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m14.574s + 1.365 17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m14.619s + 1.410 Q1 cut-off time: 1m16.744s Gap * 18. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m16.967s + 1.892 19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m17.073s + 1.998 20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m17.086s + 2.011 21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m17.508s + 2.433 22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m18.104s + 3.029 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m19.576s + 4.501 24. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m19.699s + 4.624 107% time: 1m20.330s
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Sebastian Vettel Fastest After Opening Practice At Singapore
Sebastian Vettel has begun the Singapore Grand Prix weekend in fine form, ending the opening practice session the weekend fastest for Red Bull. The German was followed home by the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, as the Formula 1 paddock prepares for the glorious Singapore Grand Prix.
For the second race weekend in succession, HRT’s development driver Ma Qing Hua was in the car for the opening practice session of the weekend. The Chinese driver was once again replacing Narain Karthikeyan, who will naturally return for the second session later this afternoon. Sebastian Vettel’s new helmet design raised many eyebrows within the paddock, with unique LED lights flickering at the top of the new design.
As the session got underway, Sergio Perez became the first driver to take to the Marina Bay street circuit, with the intermediate tyre on his Sauber. With the track still damp in places, the majority of the drivers opted for the intermediate Pirelli tyre with some even deciding to use the full wet tyre. In traditional Friday practice fashion, the majority of the field completed installation laps before returning to the safe and dry confines of the pits.
Timo Glock became the first driver to set a timed lap in the early stages of the session, with a 02:24.476 in his Marussia. However, as the track continued to dry out and more drivers began taking to the track, the times quickly began to improve. Jean-Eric Vergne showed this by setting a 02:09.854, which he was able to improve on with a 02:04.866 next time around. The returning Romain Grosjean then went fastest, before Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg both momentarily went fastest, all still using Pirelli’s intermediate tyre compound.
Championship leader Fernando Alonso then shot to the top of the timing sheets, before the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi became one of the first drivers to opt for the dry tyres, and went immediately fastest with a 02:01.030. The Japanese driver then quickly improved once again with a 01:55.651, visibly showing that the dry tyres were the way ahead in the opening session with the track practically dry.
Kamui Kobayashi continued to set fastest times at the top before the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg set a 01:53.416, as the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Schumacher began to set competitive lap times. However, the Mercedes’ reign was short-lived as Kimi Raikkonen went fastest with a 01:53.268 as the Finn strives for yet another competitive race result this weekend.
The other Sauber of Sergio Perez monetarily went fastest before reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel asserted his authority over proceedings with a 01:51.968. With many predicting Red Bull to be competitive once again this weekend, a second consecutive victory for the outfit could be on the cards come Sunday. However, the Williams of Pastor Maldonado immediately stormed to the top of the timing sheets with a 01:51.576, as the Venezuelan driver searches for his first points finish since his glorious victory at the Spanish Grand Prix back in May.
Sebastian Vettel returned to the top of the timing sheets only moments later with a 01:51.367, after nearly making contact with the wall of the exit of turn 19. The Red Bull driver has only won one race so far this season, and will certainly be eager to score a competitive result after his DNF at Monza last time out. Lewis Hamilton showed he is most certainly in contention for the win this weekend, as the Briton stormed to the top with a 01:51.172. However, the McLaren drivers’ reign was quickly brought to an end as Sebastian Vettel once again flew to the top with a 01:50.566.
As the session drew to a close, both Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean made minor and separate mistakes as they began to push to the limits of the track. Sergio Perez also ran wide at turn 9, in similar fashion to Maldonado earlier in the session. Lots of drivers also ran wide at turn the tricky turn 10, which has recently been renamed the ‘Singapore Sling’.
However, Sebastian Vettel remained atop the timing sheets as the session came to an end under the floodlights. The predicted rain failed to materialize, allowing the drivers to complete valuable dry running for the majority of the session. The teams and drivers will return to the Marina Bay street circuit later this afternoon, as they continue to prepare for this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m50.566 24 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m50.615s + 0.049 15 3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m51.459s + 0.893 17 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m51.525s + 0.959 20 5. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m51.576s + 1.010 20 6. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m51.655s + 1.089 19 7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m51.658s + 1.092 24 8. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m51.943s + 1.377 21 9. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m52.275s + 1.709 24 10. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m52.296s + 1.730 19 11. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m52.629s + 2.063 25 12. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m52.716s + 2.150 16 13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m52.839s + 2.273 23 14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m52.986s + 2.420 21 15. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m53.028s + 2.462 20 16. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m53.080s + 2.514 17 17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m53.189s + 2.623 25 18. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m53.227s + 2.661 25 19. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m54.908s + 4.342 20 20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m55.091s + 4.525 16 21. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m55.335s + 4.769 22 22. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m55.760s + 5.194 22 23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m56.656s + 6.090 21 24. Ma Qing Hua HRT-Cosworth 1m58.053s + 7.487 20
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Fernando Alonso Fastest In Final Practice At Spa
Championship leader, Fernando Alonso, has ended the final practice session at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit fastest for Ferrari, as the teams and drivers now look ahead to this afternoon’s all-important qualifying hour. The Ferrari driver was followed by Kimi Raikkonen, with Sergio Perez a close 3rd for Sauber.
Unlike yesterday’s torrid weather conditions, this morning’s final practice session as run in glorious sunshine. With the teams and drivers unable to complete much running during yesterday’s two practice sessions, it was expected to be an immensely frenetic final hour of practice as the drivers prepared for the remainder of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Kamui Kobayashi led a long queue of awaiting drivers out onto the track once the session got underway, with some drivers even opting to continue for a flying lap straight away instead of just completing the usual one single installation lap. Jean-Eric Vergne set the initial pace for Toro Rosso, however Bruno Senna was quick to jump to the top shortly after with a 01:57.562. It wasn’t long before the front runners quickly rose to the top, with Mark Webber setting a 01:56.957 to go fastest. The Australian driver will drop five places on the grid after qualifying, after requiring a gearbox change on his Red Bull.
Bruno Senna then returned to the top of the timing sheets, with the Williams driver keen to make up for lost time after only completing three laps in the treacherous conditions yesterday. Nico Rosberg’s preparations for qualifying were dealt a big blow as the session progressed, as the Mercedes driver was seen peeling off the track with what looked like a mechanical issue on his car. Whilst Rosberg’s car was pushed to safety by the marshals, Bruno Senna continued to set fast laps, with a 01:51.741 atop the timing sheets.
Fernando Alonso brought an end to the Brazilian’s reign, as the Championship leader set a 01:50.936 to go fastest. With many drivers striving to find the ideal setup ahead of qualifying, drivers including Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button were heard complaining of their setup, with Raikkonen requesting his Lotus mechanics change the car.
As the session entered it’s closing stages, the times quickly began to tumble as the likes of Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean and Mark Webber all momentarily shared the top spot. However, it was the dominant Ferrari of Fernando Alonso who ended the session fastest overall, with a 01:48.542 enough to keep the Spaniard at the top throughout the closing minutes. Kimi Raikkonen was only a tenth off the Ferrari driver, with the Finn predicted by many for victory for this weekend’s 44-lap race.
With all three practice sessions now over, the teams and drivers will be desperately crunching the numbers ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session. With the likes of Marussia running extensive updates, it looks set to be a highly competitive qualifying session throughout the entire 24-car field.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps 1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m48.542s 18 2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m48.683s + 0.141s 21 3. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m48.850s + 0.308s 23 4. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m48.863s + 0.321s 20 5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m49.091s + 0.549s 18 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m49.092s + 0.550s 16 7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m49.164s + 0.622s 21 8. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m49.266s + 0.724s 23 9. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m49.292s + 0.750s 23 10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m49.382s + 0.840s 22 11. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m49.561s + 1.019s 23 12. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m49.615s + 1.073s 19 13. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m49.621s + 1.079s 26 14. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m49.674s + 1.132s 23 15. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.710s + 1.168s 21 16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.776s + 1.234s 22 17. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m50.027s + 1.485s 20 18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m52.339s + 3.797s 21 19. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m52.566s + 4.024s 20 20. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m52.630s + 4.088s 18 21. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m52.809s + 4.267s 22 22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m53.383s + 4.841s 22 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m53.562s + 5.020s 23 24. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m58.113s + 9.571s 5
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Kovalainen Amazed With The Heavy Rain Throughout Practice
Heikki Kovalainen has expressed mild surprise at the heavy rain which plagued proceedings earlier today, as the Formula 1 drivers returned to the track after the lengthy summer recess. The rain fell relentlessly throughout the majority of the day, becoming increasingly heavy throughout the second practice session in the afternoon.
With the weather forecast to improve for the remainder of the weekend, many drivers saw no sense in taking to the track in increasingly treacherous conditions. This therefore saw many teams run a limited amount of laps throughout the day, particularly during the second practice session where only 18 of the 24 drivers were officially classified, and French rookie Charles Pic amazingly topped the timing sheets.
“It’s obviously good to be back to racing but a shame it had to start with weather like this.” Explained Heikki Kovalainen, who only completed 11 laps all day. “Spa’s notorious for its weather but I can’t remember seeing it rain this hard for a long time so after today there’s really not a lot to say after most of Friday was washed out. It looks like tomorrow should be dry so I think we’ll be able to get more laps done in FP3 but with the weather in Spa you can never tell.”
Due to the lack of running during the two Friday practice sessions, the third practice session tomorrow morning will most certainly be a frenetic one hour of track action, as the drivers make up for the loss of running thanks to the inclement weather conditions earlier today. However, Spa-Francorchamps has become exceedingly notorious due to it’s ever-changing weather system, and although the forecast is for a dry remainder of the weekend, the rain is never too far away when Formula 1 visits the legendary Belgian circuit.
Picture Copyright © Caterham F1 Team
Vitaly Petrov Would Like A Wet Canadian Grand Prix
Vitaly Petrov has expressed how he prefers racing in wet conditions, and is hoping the Canadian Grand Prix on Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be wet which would enable Caterham to be more competitive with the midfield teams such as Toro Rosso and Force India.
Last years Canadian Grand Prix was struck by torrential rain, which red flagged the race after 25 laps. The race was eventually able to continue, and was undeniably the race of the season as Jenson Button took victory on the last lap as Vettel made a rare mistake on a drying track. Button had fought his was from 21st place, after previous incidents with Hamilton and a drive-through penalty made his afternoon all the more difficult.
With the Canadian Grand Prix next on the F1 calendar, the possibility of another wet race wouldn’t bother the Caterham of Vitaly Petrov. However, the Russian driver agrees that hopefully the rain won’t be as intense as last year if it does fall on race day.
“Hopefully we won’t have quite so much rain again this year, but if it does we’ll deal with it.” Explained Vitaly Petrov, who finished 5th for Renault in last years race. “I like racing in the wet, it gives us more of a chance to fight a few cars ahead and it’s an even better feeling in the car when you get it right in the wet.”
The Canadian Grand Prix is renowned for producing exciting races, and with the way 2012 has been lately, there’s a good chance that this years Canadian Grand Prix will be yet another race to remember around Montreal’s temporary street circuit. Wet or dry, expect spills and thrills in what will be the 49th running of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Picture Copyright © Caterham F1 Team
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