The Practice headlines have mainly been about Schumacher admitting rust in his neck, Rosberg feeling inwardly cocky. Sutil looking good when not crashing and the new teams shedding tyres as though they’d stolen them off bridgestone and there was a copper round the next corner.
Still hard to tell which teams are fastest. But Ferrari are looking good, Red Bull fragile and USF1 still not got here yet.
Poor old Chandok has not been able to complete any laps, and therefore no chance for the HRT driver to take part in his debut race but on the plus side, he’s been interviewed a full times and seems like a jolly nice chap.
The new teams are quite a bit off the pace, and the big guys are getting moody about having to overtake.
Schumacher hasn’t set much alight and is possibly wondering whether this was such a good idea. Hopefully there’s a tacit agreement with Todt that means all the other drivers have to move over to let him through on the last lap of the race.
In final practice alonso ended by going quickest and hamilton went out with a brake problem.
Free Practice 1 (Friday)
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:56.583 18
2. Alonso Ferrari 1:56.766 + 0.183 18
3. Kubica Renault 1:57.041 + 0.458 19
4. Massa Ferrari 1:57.055 + 0.472 19
5. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:57.068 + 0.485 19
6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:57.163 + 0.580 19
7. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:57.194 + 0.611 19
8. Rosberg Mercedes 1:57.199 + 0.616 15
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:57.255 + 0.672 17
10. Schumacher Mercedes 1:57.662 + 1.079 16
11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:57.722 + 1.139 18
12. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:57.894 + 1.311 20
13. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:57.943 + 1.360 17
14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:58.399 + 1.816 13
15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:58.782 + 2.199 11
16. Petrov Renault 1:58.880 + 2.297 13
17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 2:00.250 + 3.667 18
18. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2:01.388 + 4.805 11
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2:03.680 + 7.097 8
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:03.848 + 7.265 21
21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2:03.970 + 7.387 15
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 3
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth
Free Practice 2 (Friday)
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Rosberg Mercedes 1:55.409 23
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.854 + 0.445 22
3. Schumacher Mercedes 1:55.903 + 0.494 23
4. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:56.076 + 0.667 28
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:56.459 + 1.050 18
6. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.501 + 1.092 26
7. Massa Ferrari 1:56.555 + 1.146 30
8. Petrov Renault 1:56.750 + 1.341 26
9. Alonso Ferrari 1:57.140 + 1.731 25
10. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.255 + 1.846 24
11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.352 + 1.943 27
12. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:57.361 + 1.952 29
13. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:57.452 + 2.043 21
14. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:57.833 + 2.424 29
15. Kubica Renault 1:58.155 + 2.746 29
16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:59.799 + 4.390 31
17. Webber Red Bull-Renault 2:00.444 + 5.035 12
18. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.873 + 5.464 23
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.990 + 5.581 14
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2:02.037 + 6.628 3
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:02.188 + 6.779 21
22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:06.968 + 11.559 17
23. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth
Free Practice 3 - Saturday
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Alonso Ferrari 1:54.099 14
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:54.368 + 0.269 13
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:54.500 + 0.401 15
4. Schumacher Mercedes 1:54.533 + 0.434 13
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:54.646 + 0.547 16
6. Massa Ferrari 1:54.739 + 0.640 14
7. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.000 + 0.901 14
8. Kubica Renault 1:55.331 + 1.232 15
9. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:55.432 + 1.333 11
10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:55.461 + 1.362 13
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:55.521 + 1.422 13
12. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.860 + 1.761 8
13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.063 + 1.964 14
14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:56.259 + 2.160 15
15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:56.295 + 2.196 17
16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:56.504 + 2.405 16
17. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.530 + 2.431 13
18. Petrov Renault 1:56.811 + 2.712 16
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:59.173 + 5.074 10
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:59.789 + 5.690 15
21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2:01.259 + 7.160 5
22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:04.001 + 9.902 11
23. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth
all times lovingly copied down from autosport
Williams are still keeping up with the practice beating game, this time getting a 1-2 for Rosberg and Nakajima.
Previous experience tells us that this will mean utterly nothing, but they too have a lot of new bits on the car and this 1-2 is enough to leave me to leave rosberg on my fantasy F1.
We will soon find out if this was foolish or not.
Alonso got up to third, and we can expect his car to be empty but for some fuel fumes and a lot of love come qualifying.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:21.588 43
2. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:21.740 + 0.152 40
3. Alonso Renault (B) 1:21.781 + 0.193 36
4. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:21.843 + 0.255 39
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.027 + 0.439 37
6. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:22.052 + 0.464 35
7. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.082 + 0.494 45
8. Piquet Renault (B) 1:22.349 + 0.761 26
9. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:22.571 + 0.983 17
10. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:22.599 + 1.011 40
11. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:22.615 + 1.027 30
12. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:22.670 + 1.082 32
13. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.809 + 1.221 31
14. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.876 + 1.288 29
15. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:22.878 + 1.290 35
16. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:22.948 + 1.360 40
17. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:23.173 + 1.585 39
18. Glock Toyota (B) 1:23.360 + 1.772 46
19. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:23.623 + 2.035 47
20. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B)
What with all the teams having big updates and diffusers, it was kind of expected that this first practice would be yet another shakeup of the already shaky new world order
But it didn’t really happen.
The final result show a glimmer of hope for the disastrous BMW-Sauber season, but it looks, despite a new nose job, that it was just a light fuel run to trick the BMW board into thinking that everything is going ok, honest
Button in his Brawn seems to have the measure of the weekend whereas both McLaren and Ferrari’s changes either haven’t had much effect, or they be hustling…
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:21.799 21
2. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:22.154 + 0.355 30
3. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:22.221 + 0.422 24
4. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:22.658 + 0.859 14
5. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.659 + 0.860 24
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.667 + 0.868 26
7. Piquet Renault (B) 1:22.753 + 0.954 24
8. Glock Toyota (B) 1:22.828 + 1.029 29
9. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:22.855 + 1.056 15
10. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:22.859 + 1.060 24
11. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:22.873 + 1.074 20
12. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.934 + 1.135 25
13. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.959 + 1.160 24
14. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:23.077 + 1.278 21
15. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.088 + 1.289 30
16. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:23.089 + 1.290 25
17. Alonso Renault (B) 1:23.157 + 1.358 18
18. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.185 + 1.386 31
19. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:23.522 + 1.723 17
20. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:23.536 + 1.737 19
Isn’t this just getting a little embarrassing for Rosberg and Williams? Yet again another top of the timesheets in a way that always fails to convert to quali or race pace.
We’re starting to wonder if the other teams go slow on purpose in some big practical joke. “aha, nico, you weren’t fastest at all - wankerrrr”
Conversely Alonso spent the whole practice dead last, making Piquet believe for a precious few minutes that maybe he was good after all, but then Fernando blitzed round in a 1:33 and Nelson knew he was totally fucked
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:33.339 36
2. Alonso Renault (B) 1:33.530 + 0.191 25
3. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:33.616 + 0.277 37
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:33.661 + 0.322 29
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:33.676 + 0.337 32
6. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:33.694 + 0.355 35
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:33.763 + 0.424 30
8. Glock Toyota (B) 1:33.764 + 0.425 37
9. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:33.885 + 0.546 30
10. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:33.899 + 0.560 36
11. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:33.994 + 0.655 30
12. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:34.025 + 0.686 23
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:34.127 + 0.788 37
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:34.366 + 1.027 26
15. Piquet Renault (B) 1:34.411 + 1.072 29
16. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:34.564 + 1.225 34
17. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:34.605 + 1.266 31
18. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:34.670 + 1.331 28
19. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:34.764 + 1.425 35
20. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:34.790 + 1.451 33
Similar to when the cleaner of a big theatre takes to the stage when the place is shut and pretends to be a star, Lewis Hamilton headed the first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, pretending that he really has a chance of winning.
Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica also tried this, but their dreams only left them 2nd and 3rd. There’ll be some stiff letters to Jim’ll Fix It written in the morning.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.647 + 19
2. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:33.907 + 0.260 17
3. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:33.938 + 0.291 17
4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:34.227 + 0.580 24
5. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes 1:34.434 + 0.787 15
6. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.502 + 0.855 24
7. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes 1:34.531 + 0.884 18
8. Massa Ferrari 1:34.589 + 0.942 17
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:34.827 + 1.180 21
10. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:34.827 + 1.180 19
11. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:34.880 + 1.233 24
12. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:34.938 + 1.291 21
13. Piquet Renault 1:34.974 + 1.327 21
14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:35.021 + 1.374 18
15. Trulli Toyota 1:35.036 + 1.389 22
16. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 1:35.042 + 1.395 16
17. Glock Toyota 1:35.333 + 1.686 20
18. Alonso Renault 1:35.348 + 1.701 24
19. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:35.353 + 1.706 22
20. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:35.369 + 1.722 15
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