Saturday, March 22, 2008
# posted by Rich @ 4:07 AM
2008 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix: Saturday Practice
Nick Heidfeld was the fastest man in Saturday practice, setting a time of 1:35.019 in the closing moments of the session. The BMW driver pipped world champion Kimi Raikkonen and his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa to the top spot. Heidfeld ended up just over 2 tenths faster than Raikkonen. Jarno Trulli continued his good run so far this weekend, and was fourth fastest, ahead of the two Red Bull cars of Webber and Coulthard, who apparently must have satisfied the FIA that their cars are safe to race, having been required to submit a technical report after David Coulthard's failure in Friday Practice 1. Piquet, Button, Vettel, and Glock round out the top ten. Piquet looked to be on a very hot lap at the end - his first sector time was fastest of all - but subsequently lost a lot of time in the other two sectors. The competition at the front was very close - less than a second covered the top 11 places.
The McLarens seemed a little off the pace - Hamilton was 11th fastest, 0.9 seconds slower than Heidfeld; Kovalainen was 16th, some 1.5 seconds off the pace. Meanwhile Nico Rosberg had a disappointing session, only turning 7 laps on his way to 15th fastest. Rubens Barrichello brought up the rear with a time of 1:37.703 - 2.6 seconds off the pace. Given his teammate's speed, it's possible he was evaluating heavy fuel loads.
So, what can we expect in qualifying? Well the BMWs again appear to have excellent one lap pace, so they should be right up there (although Kubica was mired down in 17th place in this session -again fuel loads are the unknown). The Ferraris will again be the cars to watch. Piquet looked as though he had good pace, although Alonso has complained that the Renault lacks decent 1-lap pace. Also, don't discount the McLarens. Hamilton was fastest in P2 yesterday, and today's slow pace is likely due to evaluating fuel and tyres.
I expect we'll see a fastest time (Q2) of around a mid to low 1:34 time. Personally, I think Massa has been the most consistently quick so far this weekend - I think he's in for a good shot at the pole and the race win.
The last factor to consider, though, is the weather. Thunderstorms are predicted for 2 pm in Kuala Lumpur, that is right at the start of qualifying. That would certainly make things interesting!
Lap Times
The McLarens seemed a little off the pace - Hamilton was 11th fastest, 0.9 seconds slower than Heidfeld; Kovalainen was 16th, some 1.5 seconds off the pace. Meanwhile Nico Rosberg had a disappointing session, only turning 7 laps on his way to 15th fastest. Rubens Barrichello brought up the rear with a time of 1:37.703 - 2.6 seconds off the pace. Given his teammate's speed, it's possible he was evaluating heavy fuel loads.
So, what can we expect in qualifying? Well the BMWs again appear to have excellent one lap pace, so they should be right up there (although Kubica was mired down in 17th place in this session -again fuel loads are the unknown). The Ferraris will again be the cars to watch. Piquet looked as though he had good pace, although Alonso has complained that the Renault lacks decent 1-lap pace. Also, don't discount the McLarens. Hamilton was fastest in P2 yesterday, and today's slow pace is likely due to evaluating fuel and tyres.
I expect we'll see a fastest time (Q2) of around a mid to low 1:34 time. Personally, I think Massa has been the most consistently quick so far this weekend - I think he's in for a good shot at the pole and the race win.
The last factor to consider, though, is the weather. Thunderstorms are predicted for 2 pm in Kuala Lumpur, that is right at the start of qualifying. That would certainly make things interesting!
Lap Times
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference | Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference |
| 1. | Heidfeld | 1:35.019 | 12. | Alonso | 1:36.068 | + 1.049 | |
| 2. | Raikkonen | 1:35.262 | + 0.243 | 13. | Nakajima | 1:36.183 | + 1.164 |
| 3. | Massa | 1:35.388 | + 0.369 | 14. | Fisichella | 1:36.229 | + 1.210 |
| 4. | Trulli | 1:35.389 | + 0.370 | 15. | Rosberg | 1:36.490 | + 1.471 |
| 5. | Webber | 1:35.437 | + 0.418 | 16. | Kovalainen | 1:36.529 | + 1.510 |
| 6. | Coulthard | 1:35.653 | + 0.634 | 17. | Kubica | 1:36.618 | + 1.599 |
| 7. | Piquet | 1:35.768 | + 0.749 | 18. | Bourdais | 1:36.668 | + 1.649 |
| 8. | Button | 1:35.781 | + 0.762 | 19. | Sato | 1:36.908 | + 1.889 |
| 9. | Vettel | 1:35.827 | + 0.808 | 20. | Sutil | 1:36.939 | + 1.920 |
| 10. | Glock | 1:35.911 | + 0.892 | 21. | Davidson | 1:37.140 | + 2.121 |
| 11. | Hamilton | 1:35.927 | + 0.908 | 22. | Barrichello | 1:37.703 | + 2.684 |
Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia
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