Whereas the first session at the Catalunya Circuit produced a list of the usual suspects in lap time order, this afternoon’s ninety minutes gave us a more unusual take on things.
Granted, Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari F2008 topped the time sheets, but only by a mere few thousandths of a second and even then by virtue of a late (presumably) low fuel effort.
Those that followed were rather less predictable, with the Renault pair of Nelson Piquet and Fernando Alonso shading the Ferrari – and each other – and Kazuki Nakajima in the Williams FW30 just shy of them in fourth position.
Felipe Massa –looking less assured at the wheel than his team mate – came in fifth, with Mark Webber a creditable sixth in the quicker (marginally) of the two Red Bull RB4s.
Nico Rosberg and David Coulthard – in the second Williams and Red Bull respectively – came next, with the Scot just over three tenths shy of Raikkonen’s leading pace.
More impressive, however, was the fact that Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India came in just behind the Red Bull in ninth, and his team mate Adrian Sutil completed the top ten with a time six tenths slower than the fastest time.
Nobody is going to declare that Force India are suddenly a top ten team – and the difference between this afternoon’s fastest and this morning’s is worth taking into account – but on the other hand this represents a seriously good effort by the tiny team, and a great use of limited resources. Credit, therefore, to Mike Gascoyne and his boys for the performance – in my book at least – of the session.
F1 watchers will have noticed the absence of two major teams from that top ten – the fastest McLaren being that of Lewis Hamilton in 11th, with team mate Heikki Kovalainen a spinner and a lacklustre 16th – and the BMW pair coming in 12th and 13th following what has become a customary quiet session for them this season. We should expect more from both outfits come qualifying tomorrow.
Toyota were all but invisible today – Jarno Trulli 14th and Timo Glock 20th – as were Honda, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello 15th and 17th, while Toro Rosso disappointed somewhat after recent shows with Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais unable to go better than 18th and 19th.
Super Aguri, naturally, finished 21st and 22nd with Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson, both of whom will simply be happy to be competing after the sag of the last couple of weeks.
Final practice may give us a better indication of the true status quo, for while we can be pretty certain Ferrari are the team to beat, it is confusing as to who will follow them pace-wise when qualifying is over. Force India have been making noises about their ability to progress from the first qualifying segment this weekend, meanwhile, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep up the momentum and cause something of an upset.
UpdateF1 will bring you live coverage, and full reports, from the rest of the weekend’s action.
Written: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:58:03
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