Friday, April 25, 2008
# posted by Rich @ 11:10 AM
2008 Formula 1 Gran Premio De Espana Telefonica: Friday Practice 1
As expected, it was the two Ferraris who were fastest in Friday Practice 1 - Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time of 1:20.649, just 5 1/100ths faster than his team mate Felipe Massa. Lewis Hamilton was third fastest, roughly half a second slower than Massa, followed by Kubica, Kovalainen, Alonso, Piquet, and Coulthard.
Given that the teams tested here very recently, you would have expected there to be few dramas. Indeed there weren't many, but Felipe Massa raised some eyebrows by having not one but two spins during the session. The first was under braking for the new final-corner chicane, the second was under power coming out of the turn 7/8 chicane. The latter incident seemed to indicate that again Massa was having difficulty sans traction control. Massa wasn't the only man off track though - Timo Glock had a large slide/spin under braking for the turn 10 hairpin, several people ran wide out of the fast right-hand turn 9, and there were also some wayward moments at the final chicane.
Renault seemed to be enjoying much improved pace - Alonso's best time of 1:21.933 was good enough for sixth fastest, albeit 1.3 seconds slower than the Ferraris. That said, he was around 7 tenths slower than Hamilton. Alonso's team mate Nelsinho Piquet showed much improved for also - he was but 3 1/1000ths slower than Alonso.
Elsewhere, the BMWs continued to show their good pace - Kubica was fourth fastest, although Heidfeld was only 9th fastest. He was probably on a different evaluation program than the Pole though. Honda also seemed in good shape. Button was 10th fastest with a 1:22.632 (1.9 seconds slower than Raikkonen). That might seem a lot and, given that they seemed further up the order in Malaysia and Bahrain, one might have expected them to do better. But, given the nature of the Barcelona track, and the fact that everyone tests there, the midfield runners tend to be quite close. A case in point - 11th through 17th places were covered by just 2 tenths of a second, and Button was well clear of that group.
Most teams ran fewer than 20 laps (6 cars ran more than 20 laps) - this was to be expected given the recent test here - and for once the Super Aguris didn't run the fewest number of laps. That honor fell to Felipe Massa, who ran just 9 laps.
So, the Ferraris look to be in fine form yet again. Another win for the Scuderia looks to be on the cards already, but there is plenty of weekend left yet.
Lap Times
Given that the teams tested here very recently, you would have expected there to be few dramas. Indeed there weren't many, but Felipe Massa raised some eyebrows by having not one but two spins during the session. The first was under braking for the new final-corner chicane, the second was under power coming out of the turn 7/8 chicane. The latter incident seemed to indicate that again Massa was having difficulty sans traction control. Massa wasn't the only man off track though - Timo Glock had a large slide/spin under braking for the turn 10 hairpin, several people ran wide out of the fast right-hand turn 9, and there were also some wayward moments at the final chicane.
Renault seemed to be enjoying much improved pace - Alonso's best time of 1:21.933 was good enough for sixth fastest, albeit 1.3 seconds slower than the Ferraris. That said, he was around 7 tenths slower than Hamilton. Alonso's team mate Nelsinho Piquet showed much improved for also - he was but 3 1/1000ths slower than Alonso.
Elsewhere, the BMWs continued to show their good pace - Kubica was fourth fastest, although Heidfeld was only 9th fastest. He was probably on a different evaluation program than the Pole though. Honda also seemed in good shape. Button was 10th fastest with a 1:22.632 (1.9 seconds slower than Raikkonen). That might seem a lot and, given that they seemed further up the order in Malaysia and Bahrain, one might have expected them to do better. But, given the nature of the Barcelona track, and the fact that everyone tests there, the midfield runners tend to be quite close. A case in point - 11th through 17th places were covered by just 2 tenths of a second, and Button was well clear of that group.
Most teams ran fewer than 20 laps (6 cars ran more than 20 laps) - this was to be expected given the recent test here - and for once the Super Aguris didn't run the fewest number of laps. That honor fell to Felipe Massa, who ran just 9 laps.
So, the Ferraris look to be in fine form yet again. Another win for the Scuderia looks to be on the cards already, but there is plenty of weekend left yet.
Lap Times
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference | Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference |
| 1. | Raikkonen | 1:20.649 | 12. | Rosberg | 1:23.003 | + 2.354 | |
| 2. | Massa | 1:20.699 | + 0.050 | 13. | Webber | 1:23.015 | + 2.366 |
| 3. | Hamilton | 1:21.192 | + 0.543 | 14. | Trulli | 1:23.141 | + 2.492 |
| 4. | Kubica | 1:21.568 | + 0.919 | 15. | Nakajima | 1:23.153 | + 2.504 |
| 5. | Kovalainen | 1:21.758 | + 1.109 | 16. | Sutil | 1:23.156 | + 2.507 |
| 6. | Alonso | 1:21.933 | + 1.284 | 17. | Fisichella | 1:23.196 | + 2.547 |
| 7. | Piquet | 1:21.936 | + 1.287 | 18. | Barrichello | 1:23.353 | + 2.704 |
| 8. | Coulthard | 1:22.118 | + 1.469 | 19. | Bourdais | 1:23.952 | + 3.303 |
| 9. | Heidfeld | 1:22.278 | + 1.629 | 20. | Vettel | 1:24.082 | + 3.433 |
| 10. | Button | 1:22.632 | + 1.983 | 21. | Sato | 1:24.278 | + 3.629 |
| 11. | Glock | 1:23.002 | + 2.353 | 22. | Davidson | 1:25.068 | + 4.419 |
Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Spain
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