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STR mix with the big boys

An intriguing first session at the new Valencia street circuit was always earmarked to produce some surprise results, but nobody would have predicted Sebastian Vettel in top spot in the Toro Rosso.

Even less likely would they have though Sebastien Bourdais, in the second STR-Ferrari, would be up there, but there he was when the 0 minutes came to an end, in fourth place.

Vettel was quick all session – as was Bourdais – and topped out with a time of 1:40.496, three and a half seconds off the predicted 1:37 benchmark figure on a fresh and dirty track, with his team mate six tenths behind and between them the Ferrari of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren.

We can reasonably expect McLaren and Ferrari – who had Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen fifth and seventh respectively – to move up a gear this afternoon, although it will be interesting to see how the STR pair match up in the later session.

BMW had a mixed morning, with Robert Kubica always in the mix and finishing sixth, three quarters of a second off the top pace, but Nick Heidfeld never in the hunt, although he did appear to be doing long runs as opposed to several short stints by Kubica.

Last man within a second was Fernando Alonso in the Renault, and the final top ten runners Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg in the Williams’.

Credit to Adrian Sutil for a fine 13th in the Force India, but questions for Red Bull whose cars languished at the foot of the table.

Written: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:45:02