Friday, March 21, 2008
# posted by Rich @ 7:31 AM
2008 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix: Friday Practice 2
It was Lewis Hamilton who was the fastest man on track in the second Friday Practice session, with a time of 1:35.055 - one and a half tenths clear of Felipe Massa in second place, and nearly four tenths faster than the world champion Kimi Raikkonen in third place. The two Ferraris were quickest for most of the session, however, and Felipe Massa later felt that he could have gone quicker on his final lap - which was on the softer Option tyres - but was held up a little bit by Hamilton. Indeed, Massa's fastest time was set on the harder Prime tyres, whereas Hamilton's time was set on the Option tyres.
Most teams and drivers experimented with both the Prime and Option tyres, with the majority of evaluating both types of tyres. Most drivers completed between 30 and 40 laps in their programs, although notable exceptions were Alonso, who would complete only 23 and finish the session 14th fastest; Sebastien Bourdais, who's gearbox seized on his out-lap (even before then he nearly had a tangle with Nick Heidfeld in the pit lane) due to an incorrect ratio in the gearbox; and David Coulthard, who didn't even leave pit lane - his mechanics were presumably still repairing the damage his car suffered in P1.
The weather also fluctuated during the session - the track temperature swung from a high of 57 degrees to a low of 37 degrees celcius as cloud cover moved in over the track. The humidity also shot up from 47% to 74% during the session. The threat of rain was certainly there, but fortunately it never came.
The drivers still seemed to be struggling under heavy braking for turn 14 - Lewis Hamilton got extremely sideways there at one point during the session (and also had a big, lurid slide in turn 10 towards the end of the session), and Fernando Alonso even spun his car through 270 degrees. He would later complain that he could not use second gear anywhere, and that he thought it was broken.
Back on track though, the competition was very close - 1.1 seconds covered 5th to 18th places. There were some good times from Jenson Button, who would finish the session in fourth place (although he cautioned not to expect that kind of performance in Qualifying), and Sebastian Vettel, who ended up fifth, just fractionally ahead of Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, who seemed to be performing well around the Sepang circuit. Behind him was Heikki Kovalainen, whose time of 1:36.512 was some 1.5 seconds slower than teammate Hamilton, but the two were probably experimenting with different tyre and fuel load combinations. Giancarlo Fisichella impressed to put in the 9th fastest time of the afternoon, however there were disappointing times from Rosberg, Heidfeld, Alonso, and Piquet, who occupied places 12 through 15 respectively. Piquet's car seemed to be running a very low ride height, as there was a lot of plank dust from his car through the fast turn 5/6 flick and through turn 12 also. He would later say to his engineer that the car was "bloody good" through 5 and 6, but had understeer in turn 8, which got better as he played with the differential, and that he had oversteer in turn 12.
The conversation that Rosberg had with his engineer was somewhat enlightening - he spoke of having 17 front and 15 rear pressure (presumably tyre pressures, although those numbers seem quite low), and that he wanted less in the front.
So, there was relatively little drama to report, at least compared to P1. There was one moment of concern for Raikkonen though. After the session had already ended, the Finn stopped in the pitlane for several seconds before getting going again and returning to the Ferrari garage. The incident was probably nothing of concern though. Indeed, Ferrari stated that Raikkonen's problem in P1 was not a repeat of the technical failure that blighted him in Melbourne, but a mis-calculation on fuel. That explanation is surely more worrying than a technical failure - such elementary mistakes should not be made by a team as good as Ferrari.
Lap Times
Most teams and drivers experimented with both the Prime and Option tyres, with the majority of evaluating both types of tyres. Most drivers completed between 30 and 40 laps in their programs, although notable exceptions were Alonso, who would complete only 23 and finish the session 14th fastest; Sebastien Bourdais, who's gearbox seized on his out-lap (even before then he nearly had a tangle with Nick Heidfeld in the pit lane) due to an incorrect ratio in the gearbox; and David Coulthard, who didn't even leave pit lane - his mechanics were presumably still repairing the damage his car suffered in P1.
The weather also fluctuated during the session - the track temperature swung from a high of 57 degrees to a low of 37 degrees celcius as cloud cover moved in over the track. The humidity also shot up from 47% to 74% during the session. The threat of rain was certainly there, but fortunately it never came.
The drivers still seemed to be struggling under heavy braking for turn 14 - Lewis Hamilton got extremely sideways there at one point during the session (and also had a big, lurid slide in turn 10 towards the end of the session), and Fernando Alonso even spun his car through 270 degrees. He would later complain that he could not use second gear anywhere, and that he thought it was broken.
Back on track though, the competition was very close - 1.1 seconds covered 5th to 18th places. There were some good times from Jenson Button, who would finish the session in fourth place (although he cautioned not to expect that kind of performance in Qualifying), and Sebastian Vettel, who ended up fifth, just fractionally ahead of Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, who seemed to be performing well around the Sepang circuit. Behind him was Heikki Kovalainen, whose time of 1:36.512 was some 1.5 seconds slower than teammate Hamilton, but the two were probably experimenting with different tyre and fuel load combinations. Giancarlo Fisichella impressed to put in the 9th fastest time of the afternoon, however there were disappointing times from Rosberg, Heidfeld, Alonso, and Piquet, who occupied places 12 through 15 respectively. Piquet's car seemed to be running a very low ride height, as there was a lot of plank dust from his car through the fast turn 5/6 flick and through turn 12 also. He would later say to his engineer that the car was "bloody good" through 5 and 6, but had understeer in turn 8, which got better as he played with the differential, and that he had oversteer in turn 12.
The conversation that Rosberg had with his engineer was somewhat enlightening - he spoke of having 17 front and 15 rear pressure (presumably tyre pressures, although those numbers seem quite low), and that he wanted less in the front.
So, there was relatively little drama to report, at least compared to P1. There was one moment of concern for Raikkonen though. After the session had already ended, the Finn stopped in the pitlane for several seconds before getting going again and returning to the Ferrari garage. The incident was probably nothing of concern though. Indeed, Ferrari stated that Raikkonen's problem in P1 was not a repeat of the technical failure that blighted him in Melbourne, but a mis-calculation on fuel. That explanation is surely more worrying than a technical failure - such elementary mistakes should not be made by a team as good as Ferrari.
Lap Times
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference | Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference |
| 1. | Hamilton | 1:35.055 | 12. | Rosberg | 1:36.908 | + 1.853 | |
| 2. | Massa | 1:35.206 | + 0.151 | 13. | Heidfeld | 1:37.106 | + 2.051 |
| 3. | Raikkonen | 1:35.428 | + 0.373 | 14. | Alonso | 1:37.328 | + 2.273 |
| 4. | Button | 1:36.037 | + 0.982 | 15. | Piquet | 1:37.331 | + 2.276 |
| 5. | Vettel | 1:36.474 | + 1.419 | 16. | Webber | 1:37.346 | + 2.291 |
| 6. | Trulli | 1:36.493 | + 1.438 | 17. | Glock | 1:37.512 | + 2.457 |
| 7. | Kovalainen | 1:36.512 | + 1.457 | 18. | Sutil | 1:37.614 | + 2.559 |
| 8. | Kubica | 1:36.671 | + 1.616 | 19. | Sato | 1:39.021 | + 3.966 |
| 9. | Fisichella | 1:36.756 | + 1.701 | 20. | Davidson | 1:39.361 | + 4.306 |
| 10. | Nakajima | 1:36.838 | + 1.783 | 21. | Bourdais | No Time | |
| 11. | Barrichello | 1:36.879 | + 1.824 | 22. | Coulthard | No Time |
Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia
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