First practice for the Turkish Grand Prix saw the field struggling for grip, and while dogs were – mercifully – absent this morning, Astroturf played a part in interrupting the session. A red flag with fifteen minutes to go was necessary to remove a rogue portion of the material that lines the corners, and then we had the usual ten minute flurry at the end of the session that inevitably sees Nico Rosberg go fastest.
The young German didn’t disappoint, putting in the only time to dip into the 1;28 bracket – 1:28.952 to be precise – in the Williams FW31 to head Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren looking pretty good here, by three tenths of a second.
As a sign of just how mixed up this season has been – bar the all-conquering Brawn – Jarno Trulli brought the Toyota in third, just a fraction shy of Hamilton, and you will remember that, two weeks ago, the red and white cars were back markers all weekend.
Sebastian Vettel put in the best Red Bull time, the car looking at odds on parts of this circuit in the hands of the German and his team mate Mark Webber – 15th at the end of the session – with the Ferrari pair of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in fifth and seventh, the meat in that sandwich being the second Williams of Kazuki Nakajima.
With Fernando Alonso – for Renault – eighth and Rubens Barrichello the fastest Brawn in ninth, and the top ten rounded out by Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren – just six tenths off the fastest time – the order appears to be very much a Friday staple.
Notable mentions for Adrian Sutil, again showing well in the Force India with 12th position, and continuing woe at BMW-Sauber, with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld a relatively distant 16th and 17th, both complaining that the new double diffuser equipped F1.09 is unpredictable.
More to come later today, and UpdateF1 will bring you the news.
Written: Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:45:00
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