Saturday, April 05, 2008
# posted by Rich @ 11:02 AM
2008 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix: Saturday Practice
Nico Rosberg was the man to watch in this morning's practice session - he topped the time sheet with a lap of 1:32.521, two tenths clear of Felipe Massa in second place, and Mark Webber in third. World champion Kimi Raikkonen finished the session 9th fastest with a time of 1:33.237, around half a tenth faster than his Finnish compatriot Heikki Kovalainen, who was tenth fastest. Lewis Hamilton, who suffered a shunt in the closing minutes of P2 yesterday, was 18th fastest with a time of 1:33.659.
The track temperature was as high as it has been all weekend - around 44 celcius - and the winds were still gusting. The winds were fluctuating a lot during the session, and stiff winds are expected to continue into qualifying.
This morning's practice times are not necessarily indicative, due to the fact that the drivers were probably experimenting with different fuel loads ahead of Q3 and the race, and there will have also been drivers that will have been making low fuel runs in preparation for Q1 and Q2. One such driver was probably Mark Webber, who posted the third fastest time of the sesssion. In spite of fuel loads this morning, Nico Rosberg has been quite quick all weekend, as has his team mate Nakajima, who was 6th fastest this morning.
The competition in practice was tight - a second covered the top 14, and just over 1.5 seconds covered the top 20, and just 0.6 seconds covered 6th - 16th. It looks like it will be a fierce battle in qualifying, but given the raw pace of the Ferraris and Massa's strength at the Bahrain track, it looks likely that the diminutive Brazilian will take the pole position, with team mate Raikkonen alongside. The McLarens look like they will be best of the rest, but the Williams, the BMWs, and the Toyotas will all be nipping at their heels, especially if the McLarens have a bad day.
The weather for qualifying is set to be fine, with air temperatures around 30 celcius and a track temperatures in the low 40s. The fastest time (Q2) should be in the low 1 minute 31 second range, possibly a high 1 minute 30 second lap.
Lap Times
The track temperature was as high as it has been all weekend - around 44 celcius - and the winds were still gusting. The winds were fluctuating a lot during the session, and stiff winds are expected to continue into qualifying.
This morning's practice times are not necessarily indicative, due to the fact that the drivers were probably experimenting with different fuel loads ahead of Q3 and the race, and there will have also been drivers that will have been making low fuel runs in preparation for Q1 and Q2. One such driver was probably Mark Webber, who posted the third fastest time of the sesssion. In spite of fuel loads this morning, Nico Rosberg has been quite quick all weekend, as has his team mate Nakajima, who was 6th fastest this morning.
The competition in practice was tight - a second covered the top 14, and just over 1.5 seconds covered the top 20, and just 0.6 seconds covered 6th - 16th. It looks like it will be a fierce battle in qualifying, but given the raw pace of the Ferraris and Massa's strength at the Bahrain track, it looks likely that the diminutive Brazilian will take the pole position, with team mate Raikkonen alongside. The McLarens look like they will be best of the rest, but the Williams, the BMWs, and the Toyotas will all be nipping at their heels, especially if the McLarens have a bad day.
The weather for qualifying is set to be fine, with air temperatures around 30 celcius and a track temperatures in the low 40s. The fastest time (Q2) should be in the low 1 minute 31 second range, possibly a high 1 minute 30 second lap.
Lap Times
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference | Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference |
| 1. | Rosberg | 1:32.521 | 12. | Fisichella | 1:33.392 | + 0.871 | |
| 2. | Massa | 1:32.726 | + 0.205 | 13. | Alonso | 1:33.445 | + 0.924 |
| 3. | Webber | 1:32.742 | + 0.221 | 14. | Barrichello | 1:33.551 | + 1.030 |
| 4. | Trulli | 1:32.901 | + 0.380 | 15. | Glock | 1:33.595 | + 1.074 |
| 5. | Coulthard | 1:32.918 | + 0.397 | 16. | Button | 1:33.600 | + 1.079 |
| 6. | Nakajima | 1:33.020 | + 0.499 | 17. | Vettel | 1:33.651 | + 1.130 |
| 7. | Kubica | 1:33.024 | + 0.503 | 18. | Hamilton | 1:33.659 | + 1.138 |
| 8. | Piquet | 1:33.074 | + 0.553 | 19. | Sutil | 1:33.857 | + 1.336 |
| 9. | Raikkonen | 1:33.237 | + 0.716 | 20. | Heidfeld | 1:34.074 | + 1.553 |
| 10. | Kovalainen | 1:33.367 | + 0.846 | 21. | Davidson | 1:34.591 | + 2.070 |
| 11. | Bourdais | 1:33.372 | + 0.851 | 22. | Sato | 1:34.952 | + 2.431 |
Labels: Bahrain, Formula 1, Grand Prix
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