Lewis Hamilton was once again the dominant force when it came to practice for a Grand Prix as he set the fastest time in each of the two sessions to take a commanding psychological advantage into qualifying day tomorrow at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.
Hamilton in his McLaren set a quick lap of 1:35.630 in the first session and it was never bettered in either session. The Englishman's second session lap was the second quickest of the day outlining his dominance over his rivals during the sessions.
Championship rival Felipe Massa was second quickest overall, but failed to get anywhere near his time during the second session. Two-time 2008 Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso was third fastest after a blinding late lap in the second session. Last year’s champion Kimi Raikkonen was not far behind in the first session, but like Massa struggled to find any pace in the second session.
Nelson Piquet underlined the improvement of the Renault and its ability to throw Ferrari's championship dreams into chaos as he also set a blinding late lap during the second session. Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren was another of the front runners who found the pace difficult in the second session and only managed sixth fastest overall.
Jarno Trulli showed the improvements in the Toyota, albeit late in the season, to set the seventh fastest time while Mark Webber improved during the second session like most drivers to set a competitive time for Red Bull, ahead of their much fancied sister cars. Robert Kubica's hopes of a championship however are definitely fading unless the BMW can find pace overnight. Although he would need a miracle to raise the trophy in Brazil, it is still possible providing things go his way this weekend. Sebastien Bourdais rounded out the top ten in the Toro Rosso, although late in session two he came to a stop on circuit after spinning off.
Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW was 11th fastest with fellow German Nico Rosberg the first Williams in the times in a disappointing 12th. The Germans made it three in a row as Timo Glock was next fastest, just ahead of David Coulthard who is counting down the days until he swaps his steering wheel for the microphone.
Sebastian Vettel in the second of the Toro Rosso's was 15th with the second Williams of Kazuki Nakajima only five hundredths of a second slower. The Force India cars beat home the Honda cars once again this weekend as Giancarlo Fisichella beat team mate Adrian Sutil, while Button beat home Barrichello in what must be an embarrassing display for the Honda team.
Overall the top 16 cars were separated by just 1.3 seconds, showing the ever closing gap in Formula One. Heading into qualifying it looks like a status quo up front with the odd midfield car popping up in between the front runners.
Written: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:10:21
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- (October 17, 2008)View all headlines from this date
- (Grand Prix: Round 17: Day 1)View event information
