Webber continues to lead at Circuit de Catalunya
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05-20-2011 | 11:08 PM
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Webber continues to lead at Circuit de Catalunya
Webber continues to lead at Circuit de Catalunya - GPUpdate.net
After setting the pace in first practice, Mark Webber led the way once again in Spain this afternoon. With a best effort of 1:22.470, the top Red Bull edges out McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by just 39 thousandths of a second, with championship leader Sebastian Vettel third and leading Spaniard Fernando Alonso fifth.
Conditions remained ideal at the Catalan track as the second 90-minute period of the day began at 2pm. Once again, the session was chiefly incident-free although Kamui Kobayashi was first to suffer a large moment at Turn 7, with Hamilton also managing to stay on-track after a similar drama later on.
At Turn 3, a number of drivers continued to push the boundaries of the circuit by running over the green-painted layer of run-off area, although Felipe Massa was fortunate to avoid contact with the barriers when taking a trip through the Turn 5 gravel trap. Also off the circuit, one corner earlier, was Narain Karthikeyan although he too was able to rejoin.
On the timesheets, lap times came down dramatically as soon as the Soft, Option tyres were wheeled out; the difference between the two types is even greater this weekend, due to a combination of Pirelli modifying the Hard compound and the numerous car updates which teams have brought to the Circuit de Catalunya.
Following a near-miss between Pastor Maldonado and Heikki Kovalainen at Turn 11, 2009 winner Jenson Button complained of a distinct lack of rear end grip with the McLaren. Also running out of adhesion was Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher, who at Turn 3 in particular was needing to correct mid-corner slides.
Jaws dropped in the paddock as Vettel first fitted the softer tyres, setting a stunning lap time before improving, only for team-mate and 2010 Barcelona victor Webber to go even quicker. However, signs of Red Bull domination have now been questioned by Hamilton, who missed the top spot after losing his 39 thousandths in the final sector.
As the Mercedes works cars rose to sixth and seventh slots ahead of Massa, customers Force India suffered a miserable time as Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil finished in lowly 17th and 19th places. In the German’s case, much time was spent in the garage due to a telemetry failure – something which prohibits a car from being on-track due to a rule by their silver arrow engine supplier.
Second Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari ends the day 15th for Toro Rosso, with Hispania pairing Karthikeyan and Liuzzi rounding out the field, with many cars having suffered problems with traffic in the final five minutes.
After setting the pace in first practice, Mark Webber led the way once again in Spain this afternoon. With a best effort of 1:22.470, the top Red Bull edges out McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by just 39 thousandths of a second, with championship leader Sebastian Vettel third and leading Spaniard Fernando Alonso fifth.
Conditions remained ideal at the Catalan track as the second 90-minute period of the day began at 2pm. Once again, the session was chiefly incident-free although Kamui Kobayashi was first to suffer a large moment at Turn 7, with Hamilton also managing to stay on-track after a similar drama later on.
At Turn 3, a number of drivers continued to push the boundaries of the circuit by running over the green-painted layer of run-off area, although Felipe Massa was fortunate to avoid contact with the barriers when taking a trip through the Turn 5 gravel trap. Also off the circuit, one corner earlier, was Narain Karthikeyan although he too was able to rejoin.
On the timesheets, lap times came down dramatically as soon as the Soft, Option tyres were wheeled out; the difference between the two types is even greater this weekend, due to a combination of Pirelli modifying the Hard compound and the numerous car updates which teams have brought to the Circuit de Catalunya.
Following a near-miss between Pastor Maldonado and Heikki Kovalainen at Turn 11, 2009 winner Jenson Button complained of a distinct lack of rear end grip with the McLaren. Also running out of adhesion was Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher, who at Turn 3 in particular was needing to correct mid-corner slides.
Jaws dropped in the paddock as Vettel first fitted the softer tyres, setting a stunning lap time before improving, only for team-mate and 2010 Barcelona victor Webber to go even quicker. However, signs of Red Bull domination have now been questioned by Hamilton, who missed the top spot after losing his 39 thousandths in the final sector.
As the Mercedes works cars rose to sixth and seventh slots ahead of Massa, customers Force India suffered a miserable time as Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil finished in lowly 17th and 19th places. In the German’s case, much time was spent in the garage due to a telemetry failure – something which prohibits a car from being on-track due to a rule by their silver arrow engine supplier.
Second Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari ends the day 15th for Toro Rosso, with Hispania pairing Karthikeyan and Liuzzi rounding out the field, with many cars having suffered problems with traffic in the final five minutes.
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