UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Heidfeld tops final practice

BMW come to the fore

The final hour of free practise provided a few more surprises as teams got to grips with cooler conditions than experienced yesterday.

A late run by Nick Heidfeld put the BMW driver on top by two tenths of a second, his 1:21.269 heading the impressive David Coulthard in the Red Bull.

Coulthard looked quick all session, something that will have been galling and encouraging – in equal measures – for team mate Mark Webber who spent the session with his RB4 stuck in the pits.

Fernando Alonso continued something of resurgence for Renault, just heading the second BMW of Robert Kubica in the final standings, while Jarno Trulli shaded the Pole by a few thousandths in fifth for Toyota.

Sebastien Bourdais sprung a surprise by taking sixth spot in the Toro Rosso – easily eclipsing team mate Sebastian Vettel who languished in 16th spot, albeit only four tenths down on the Frenchman, with Nelson Piquet shoring up Renaults promise in seventh.

Honda had a better morning with Jenson Button jumping into eighth and Rubens Barrichello three tenths behind, while fastest Ferrari went to Felipe Massa in ninth, just a tenth faster than team mate Kimi Raikkonen who came home a surprise 13th.

Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen managed only 11th and 15th in the final order, and one has to assume the team were concentrating on race preparation rather than fast laps.

Written: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:37:47