UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Ferrari back at the front

F60B on the pace

The final free practice hour is always the most interesting of the lot, and today saw some decent action among the runners and some unexpected names near the top of the list, too.

It seems somewhat odd to speak of Felipe Massa at the top of the times as being unusual, but that has been the case so far this season.

Here in Barcelona, however, the Ferrari F60B appears to be working very well indeed. Massa and team mate Kimi Raikkonen made it a Ferrari 1-2 for the first time in any session that I can remember this season, with the Brazilian clocking 1:20.553 and the Finn a time less than a tenth slower. What was perhaps remarkable was that the next best time – that of Jenson Button in the Brawn – was some four tenths slower again.

Undoubtedly Ferrari have made improvements, but to the extent that they are leading the field? It seems unlikely, and we need to recall that Rubens Barrichello – fourth placed man today – lapped this circuit in testing much quicker than the times we are seeing today. Nevertheless, there is clear optimism for the Maranello faithful that, at last, something is going right.

Just behind the Brawn pair came Robert Kubica, the Pole proving that BMW have also made up time. Talk of a half a second a lap improvement appears to be pretty much on the ball, but things were not so good for team mate Nick Heidfeld whose F1.09 was quite heavily damaged when the German crashed at around the half way point in the session.

Also looking good here are Toyota, with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock taking the sixth and eighth fastest times, and one suspects that there may be more to come when the real business begins later, as there is an air of confidence surrounding the Cologne outfit.

Between the two red and white cars cams Lewis Hamilton, the world champion speaking of McLaren being out of touch yesterday, and if the eight tenths of a second gap to the Ferrari duo is a true representation then he is absolutely right; team mate Heikki Kovalainen managed only 11th fastest, the last man within a second of Massa.

Sebastien Buemi again shone in the revised STR, the Swiss getting inside the top ten while his French team mate Sebastien Bourdais managed 14th, and it was curious to see the Red Bulls languishing in 13th and 16th – Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel respectively – for we know there is much more pace in that car.
Fernando Alonso plonked the Renault in a lacklustre 10th, Nelson Piquet Jnr 15th in the second car, and Williams’s inconsistent form continues with yesterday morning’s pace setters Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima in 12th and 18th. Remaining runners Force India have Giancarlo Fisichella 17th and Adrian Sutil 19th.
Sutil's being the last representative time, the field again appears tightly bunched, with just 1.6 seconds covering first to last.

Is this, then, a genuine Ferrari revival, or are the heavy hitters – Brawn, Toyota and Red Bull – holding something back? Qualifying will be telling indeed.

Written: Sat, 09 May 2009 10:18:25