F1 Valencia Day One Analysis - Spolier
Aug 22, 2008 | 08:03 PM
#1
Thread Starter
| Teamspeed Pro
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 23,875
From: Orange County
F1 Valencia Day One Analysis - Spolier
Here is a team-by-team analysis from day one of practice at Valencia. If you want to watch it yourself, you may want to skip this post.
Ferrari topped the timesheets after the opening day of free practice at the European Grand Prix with Kimi Raikkonen, but there were other highlights including Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Giancarlo Fisichella and Sebastian Vettel.
Ferrari: A promising opening salvo for the Italian team on Friday; Felipe Massa was beaten to the morning top-spot only by a showboating Toro Rosso, before Kimi Raikkonen recorded the fastest lap of the day in the second 90-minute session. "It is far too early to say where we are compared to the opposition," said the Finn.
Renault: A low-profile morning, but home hero Fernando Alonso was piped to the fastest lap of the day by Raikkonen by only the barest of margins in the afternoon session. "It is difficult to understand too much about our situation relative to the others," said engineering boss Pat Symonds. Nelson Piquet's deficit to the former world champion was seven tenths in the morning and almost a full second in the afternoon.
Honda: On super-soft Bridgestones, Jenson Button recorded the third best time of the day late in the afternoon session. "Hopefully we can further improve the car overnight and be reasonably competitive for qualifying tomorrow," he said. In absolute contrast, Rubens Barrichello was the slowest runner of all in the same session thanks to brake issues.
"I'm confident that we can get back on the pace for qualifying tomorrow," said the Brazilian.
McLaren Mercedes: Despite a recent run of form, the McLarens - led in pace as usual by Lewis Hamilton - spent Friday out of the limelight, as the pair achieved just the fifth and sixth fastest times in the quicker afternoon session. "We're in pretty good shape," said championship leader Hamilton.
Toyota: Timo Glock, who finished on the podium three weeks ago in Hungary, ended the first day of practice promisingly with the seventh best time. Jarno Trulli struggled with balance and only just pegged the deficit to his teammate below the one second mark. "That was not a particularly good day for me," he admitted.
BMW Sauber: Nick Heidfeld seems to be struggling; his deficit to team-mate Robert Kubica was a full second per lap both in the morning and again in the afternoon. "I'm not happy with the lap times yet," the German confirmed. The highlight of Kubica's Friday was his morning P6.
Force India Ferrari: Force India's Friday, to be the race-debut of the new seamless shift gearbox, is difficult to analyse; when Giancarlo Fisichella was slow in the morning, Adrian Sutil was P13. And when Sutil ended the day 17th, Fisichella was just a second off the ultimate pace.
Red Bull Renault: A low-profile start to the weekend for Red Bull, with Mark Webber's P11 in the afternoon the highlight, following an uncompetitive morning for both RB4s. "We're not as quick as we'd like to be," the Australian admitted. David Coulthard was the first F1 driver to hit the barriers as he ended his morning with a gentle impact.
Williams Toyota: Nico Rosberg, who nearly took out Webber with the afternoon session's most spectacular spin, went into the weekend predicting his FW30 would suit the virginal 25-corner layout. He ended the afternoon session heading the British team's charge with the 12th fastest time.
Toro Rosso Ferrari: With new tyres fitted, Sebastian Vettel stunned the timesheets with the coveted P1 at the end of the morning session, with teammate Sebastian Vettel highlighting the achievement by netting the fourth fastest time. The STRs then tumbled down the afternoon order, ultimately only securing P16 (Vettel) and 19. "Now it will be interesting to analyse what we have done and see what the others did," said the German.
Ferrari topped the timesheets after the opening day of free practice at the European Grand Prix with Kimi Raikkonen, but there were other highlights including Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Giancarlo Fisichella and Sebastian Vettel.
Ferrari: A promising opening salvo for the Italian team on Friday; Felipe Massa was beaten to the morning top-spot only by a showboating Toro Rosso, before Kimi Raikkonen recorded the fastest lap of the day in the second 90-minute session. "It is far too early to say where we are compared to the opposition," said the Finn.
Renault: A low-profile morning, but home hero Fernando Alonso was piped to the fastest lap of the day by Raikkonen by only the barest of margins in the afternoon session. "It is difficult to understand too much about our situation relative to the others," said engineering boss Pat Symonds. Nelson Piquet's deficit to the former world champion was seven tenths in the morning and almost a full second in the afternoon.
Honda: On super-soft Bridgestones, Jenson Button recorded the third best time of the day late in the afternoon session. "Hopefully we can further improve the car overnight and be reasonably competitive for qualifying tomorrow," he said. In absolute contrast, Rubens Barrichello was the slowest runner of all in the same session thanks to brake issues.
"I'm confident that we can get back on the pace for qualifying tomorrow," said the Brazilian.
McLaren Mercedes: Despite a recent run of form, the McLarens - led in pace as usual by Lewis Hamilton - spent Friday out of the limelight, as the pair achieved just the fifth and sixth fastest times in the quicker afternoon session. "We're in pretty good shape," said championship leader Hamilton.
Toyota: Timo Glock, who finished on the podium three weeks ago in Hungary, ended the first day of practice promisingly with the seventh best time. Jarno Trulli struggled with balance and only just pegged the deficit to his teammate below the one second mark. "That was not a particularly good day for me," he admitted.
BMW Sauber: Nick Heidfeld seems to be struggling; his deficit to team-mate Robert Kubica was a full second per lap both in the morning and again in the afternoon. "I'm not happy with the lap times yet," the German confirmed. The highlight of Kubica's Friday was his morning P6.
Force India Ferrari: Force India's Friday, to be the race-debut of the new seamless shift gearbox, is difficult to analyse; when Giancarlo Fisichella was slow in the morning, Adrian Sutil was P13. And when Sutil ended the day 17th, Fisichella was just a second off the ultimate pace.
Red Bull Renault: A low-profile start to the weekend for Red Bull, with Mark Webber's P11 in the afternoon the highlight, following an uncompetitive morning for both RB4s. "We're not as quick as we'd like to be," the Australian admitted. David Coulthard was the first F1 driver to hit the barriers as he ended his morning with a gentle impact.
Williams Toyota: Nico Rosberg, who nearly took out Webber with the afternoon session's most spectacular spin, went into the weekend predicting his FW30 would suit the virginal 25-corner layout. He ended the afternoon session heading the British team's charge with the 12th fastest time.
Toro Rosso Ferrari: With new tyres fitted, Sebastian Vettel stunned the timesheets with the coveted P1 at the end of the morning session, with teammate Sebastian Vettel highlighting the achievement by netting the fourth fastest time. The STRs then tumbled down the afternoon order, ultimately only securing P16 (Vettel) and 19. "Now it will be interesting to analyse what we have done and see what the others did," said the German.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
dealmaker
Aventador | Huracán | Murcielago | Gallardo
37
Jul 10, 2012 10:18 PM
Barrister
991 | 997 | 996 Turbo
5
Jul 24, 2008 08:56 PM
Barrister
991 | 997 | 996 Turbo
14
May 27, 2008 03:06 AM
Bookmarks
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)