UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Piquet heads curious session

Odd line up gives nothing away

Final practice at Magny Cours answered none of the questions that yesterday poised, and created a few more in the process.

The session ended with perhaps the most curious line up of the year, with nelson Piquet Jnr at the head of the field in the Renault, his time of 1:15.750 topping Mark Webber in the Red Bull by a mere nine one-thousandths of a second.

The unusual names continue in third where Sebastian Vettel in the STR heads Nico Rosberg’s Williams, with the first of the front runners – Kimi Raikkonen – next in the Ferrari and Jarno Trulli following him in the Toyota.

Lewis Hamilton trailed Trulli by a fraction, the McLaren just ahead of the second STR of Sebastien Bourdais, with Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and David Coulthard in the second Red Bull completing the top ten.

These ten were covered by half a second – indeed, the top 18 by one second – indicating to the cynical among us that there is more pace to come from the front runners. The absence of the BMW pair at the head – Robert Kubica finished 14th, Nick Heidfeld 18th – also pointing to a less than indicative session.

It will be interesting to see how things progress in qualifying in a short while, as it is clear that while the above cynicism may be justified, STR, Red Bull and Renault do have some genuine pace this weekend, and Toyota and Williams can not be ignored either.

Written: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:14:48