Saturday, May 10, 2008
# posted by Rich @ 11:19 AM
2008 Formula 1 Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix: Saturday Practice
Mark Webber somewhat surprisingly topped the time sheet in P3, with a time of 1:27.030, edging out Fernando Alonso and Red Bull team mate David Coulthard. Nico Rosberg was fourth fastest, followed by Felipe Massa, Trulli, Hamilton, Glock, Button, and Piquet. The pace of the Red Bull cars probably indicates that they were on light fuel and were concentrating on their Q1 and Q2 pace. This is especially critical now that Super Aguri are no longer competing because 5 cars will be eliminated from both Q1 and Q2, the upshot of which is that at least one big scalp (ie a non Force India or STR car) will be eliminated in Q1.
Kimi Raikkonen did not set a blistering time, and finished the session in 12th place, one place ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. Although it is normal for the front running cars to be off the pace in P3, the pace of the McLarens and Ferraris was probably slower than expected, which could indicate that they were experimenting with heavy fuel loads ahead of Sunday's race. However, it is more likely that they are just confident of their qualifying pace, and were trying to conserve running time and tyres.
Given the pace that the Red Bull cars showed, though, there is a prospect that both of them could get through to Q3, along with Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso (who were 2nd and 4th fastest respectively). However, they will have a fight on their hands from the BMWs (who have so far had a pretty anonymous weekend) and the Toyotas, who have shown good qualifying form so far this weekend.
Lap Times
Kimi Raikkonen did not set a blistering time, and finished the session in 12th place, one place ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. Although it is normal for the front running cars to be off the pace in P3, the pace of the McLarens and Ferraris was probably slower than expected, which could indicate that they were experimenting with heavy fuel loads ahead of Sunday's race. However, it is more likely that they are just confident of their qualifying pace, and were trying to conserve running time and tyres.
Given the pace that the Red Bull cars showed, though, there is a prospect that both of them could get through to Q3, along with Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso (who were 2nd and 4th fastest respectively). However, they will have a fight on their hands from the BMWs (who have so far had a pretty anonymous weekend) and the Toyotas, who have shown good qualifying form so far this weekend.
Lap Times
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference | Pos. | Driver | Time | Difference |
| 1. | Webber | 1:27.030 | 11. | Raikkonen | 1:27.837 | + 0.807 | |
| 2. | Alonso | 1:27.172 | + 0.142 | 12. | Kovalainen | 1:27.849 | + 0.819 |
| 3. | Coulthard | 1:27.193 | + 0.163 | 13. | Vettel | 1:27.899 | + 0.869 |
| 4. | Rosberg | 1:27.365 | + 0.335 | 14. | Barrichello | 1:27.946 | + 0.916 |
| 5. | Massa | 1:27.530 | + 0.500 | 15. | Bourdais | 1:27.948 | + 0.918 |
| 6. | Trulli | 1:27.614 | + 0.584 | 16. | Kubica | 1:27.971 | + 0.941 |
| 7. | Hamilton | 1:27.658 | + 0.628 | 17. | Nakajima | 1:28.301 | + 1.271 |
| 8. | Glock | 1:27.733 | + 0.703 | 18. | Fisichella | 1:28.573 | + 1.543 |
| 9. | Button | 1:27.766 | + 0.736 | 19. | Heidfeld | 1:28.655 | + 1.625 |
| 10. | Piquet | 1:27.781 | + 0.751 | 20. | Sutil | 1:29.131 | + 2.101 |
Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Turkey
If the fonts on this page look blocky and naff, it's probably because you are using Internet Explorer, which currently does not display antialiased (cleartype) fonts consistently when alpha transparency is used. I suggest you upgrade to Safari, Camino, Opera, or Firefox. While you're at it, get a Mac.
