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

Fabrizio Crestani Fastest In Shortened Practice At Silverstone

Fabrizio Crestani has finished a shortened practice session fastest, as torrential rain brought a premature end to the opening GP2 session of the British Grand Prix weekend. With heavy rain lashing down upon the Silverstone circuit, three red flag delays were caused as the drivers struggled to get to grips with the sodden track.

The session started in torrential conditions, which only worsened as the session wore on. Stephane Richelmi was the first man out on track, as he led out a queue of drivers eager to sample the treacherous conditions. It wasn’t long before the drivers began to spin, with Esteban Gutierrez doing so on only his out lap coming into the final corner. Julian Leal set the initial pace for Trident Racing, setting a 02:24.395. Daniel de Jong became the next driver to push too hard, as the Dutchman spun his Rapax car. Fabrizio Crestani then went fastest, before the first red flag delay was caused as Ricardo Teixeira spun at the final corner and beached it on the kerbs.

The delay only last several minutes, before the session resumed with Julian Leal leading the pack out back on track. Rodolfo Gonzalez was the next victim of the horrendous conditions, as the Caterham driver was seen beached in the gravel on the exit of turn 14. Esteban Gutierrez then shot to the top, with a 02:24.207 before Crestani returned to the top almost immediately with a 02:23.035.

Fabio Onidi then brought out the second red flag delay, as the Italian driver spun his Scuderia Coloni on the exit of turn 4. Once the session returned to green flag conditions, it was Victor Guerin and Julian Leal who returned to the track first. It was Guerin who brought out the third and final red flag delay of the session, as the Brazilian driver spun and stalled his car on the exit of the final turn. Once the red flag was brought out, it was decided that the session would not restart due to the increasingly treacherous conditions.

The GP2 paddock will be hoping for better conditions later this afternoon, as the 26 drivers return to the Silverstone circuit for their qualifying session for tomorrow afternoon’s feature race.

Picture Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service