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

Picture Copyright © Getty Images

Mugello, Day 1: Alonso Fastest In Morning Session On Drying Track

After a highly competitive and unpredictable opening four races of the 2012 season, the Formula 1 fraternity have now begun the first in-season test since 2008 at Italy’s Mugello circuit. Fernando Alonso came out on top in the morning session on day one, on a drying track after heavy overnight rain.

As the day began many of the competing drivers’ exited the pits and completed their installation laps, reminiscent of a Friday practice session during a Grand Prix weekend. However, due to the wet track it was well over 30 minutes before the first timed lap was set. Lotus opted to make some alterations to their car as the track dried out, with bodywork being taken off the E20 to allow the mechanics to make tweaks to the car. 

Eventually the first timed lap of the day was set by the Marussia of Charles Pic, with a 01:56.595. No sooner had the Frenchman set this time before it was beaten by reigning GP3 Champion and Williams reserve driver Valtteri Bottas. The Finn has made numerous appearances during Friday practice sessions’ throughout 2012, and will hand the Williams over to Bruno Senna tomorrow.

The first red flag of the day was caused shortly after these initial times were set as Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne embedded his car into the gravel at turn 2. With the track still relatively damp in places, Pirelli’s Cinturato full wets and intermediates were the tyres of choice early on.

Fernando Alonso then gave the Tifosi something to cheer about, as the Ferrari driver went quickest with a 01:37.670. The Italian’s joy was short-lived as the Spaniard caused the second red flag of the day, stopping on track at turn 8. Nico Rosberg also stopped on track at turn 4 in a separate incident.

As the track returned to green after the Mercedes and Ferrari were cleared, the Lotus of Jerome D’Ambrosio went fastest with 01:37.539 before bettering his time to a 01:36.980 a lap later. In a day which featured many reserve drivers’, Valtteri Bottas brought his Williams back to the top shortly after with a 01:35.904.

With the track quickly starting to dry out, times began to naturally tumble as drivers’ began sampling dry rubber. This saw Fernando Alonso, Jean Eric Vergne and Kamui Kobayashi all go top throughout the morning before the Ferrari of Alonso eventually returned to the top with a 01:23.947, which he capitalized on with an even quicker 01:22.444 before the lunch interval.

Mark Webber currently sits 2nd for Red Bull after a relatively quiet morning period, with the McLaren of Oliver Turvey currently 7th. For the afternoon period, Gary Paffett will step into the McLaren and Michael Schumacher will take over driving duties at Mercedes. With a much drier track, quicker times are expected when track action resumes at 2pm local time (1pm BST).

Morning times:

Pos  Driver                 Team                    Time     
 1.  Fernando Alonso        Ferrari                 1m22.444s
 2.  Mark Webber            Red Bull-Renault        1m23.648s  + 1.204s
 3.  Jean-Eric Vergne       Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m23.891s  + 1.447s
 4.  Jerome d'Ambrosio      Lotus-Renault           1m24.048s  + 1.604s
 5.  Nico Rosberg           Mercedes                1m24.100s  + 1.656s
 6.  Kamui Kobayashi        Sauber-Ferrari          1m24.736s  + 2.292s
 7.  Oliver Turvey          McLaren-Mercedes        1m25.303s  + 2.859s
 8.  Jules Bianchi          Force India-Mercedes    1m25.475s  + 3.031s
 9.  Rodolfo Gonzalez       Caterham-Renault        1m27.197s  + 4.753s
10.  Charles Pic            Marussia-Cosworth       1m27.359s  + 4.915s
11.  Valtteri Bottas        Williams-Renault        1m29.179s  + 6.734s

Picture Copyright © Reuters