Saturday – Final practice abandoned due to fog
Final practice for the Japanese Grand Prix had to be abandoned due to poor weather conditions at Fuji.
The session was initially delayed by 15 minutes due to low cloud
that would have prevented the medical helicopter from flying in the
event of an accident.
The start was then postponed by a further quarter of an hour as the cloud failed to lift.
The field was finally allowed out onto the wet track with 30 minutes
remaining, but the rain worsened immediately and with visibility
declining again, the red flag was shown after just four minutes. All the other drivers bar Kimi Raikkonen managed at least an installation or out-lap before practice was finally called off.
That’s rather bad news, isn’t it? It’s going to be difficult for Kimi and the team to finalise the right set ups without being able to run it on track! Let’s see how it goes in qualifying, as all the teams are disadvantaged by the fog. If it continues tomorrow morning before the race, let’s go back to Suzuka please!
Friday – Practice 2, McLaren Dominate
A tricky second practise session with Ferrari as their pace lessened against McLaren. As well as running wide a few times, grey clouds hovered above and track temperature dropped, which is why Kimi hadn’t improved his times.
The session saw significantly more activity than morning practice
had, with even the front-runners taking to the track immediately and
most completing longer than usual runs as they evaluated tyre
performance on the unfamiliar track.
This meant that the majority of quick times were set early on before the field focused on race preparations.
Ferrari were not quite on McLaren’s pace during this session, and
both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen ran wide across the run-off areas
on several occasions – Massa leaving the road twice on one lap. He took
third, 0.749 seconds behind Hamilton and 0.231 seconds ahead of
Raikkonen.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:18.734 38
2. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:18.948 + 0.214 34
3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:19.483 + 0.749 36
4. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:19.711 + 0.977 35
5. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:19.714 + 0.980 29
6. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:19.789 + 1.055 40
7. Fisichella Renault (B) 1:19.926 + 1.192 39
8. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:19.949 + 1.215 33
9. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:19.969 + 1.235 40
10. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:20.069 + 1.335 45
11. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:20.069 + 1.335 35
12. Wurz Williams-Toyota (B) 1:20.233 + 1.499 37
13. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:20.270 + 1.536 43
14. Button Honda (B) 1:20.336 + 1.602 44
15. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:20.462 + 1.728 36
16. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:20.736 + 2.002 37
17. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:20.889 + 2.155 33
18. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:20.985 + 2.251 44
19. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:20.997 + 2.263 38
20. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:21.007 + 2.273 34
21. Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:21.305 + 2.571 38
22. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:21.352 + 2.618 34
Quotes
Raikkonen predicts close fight at Fuji – "A good morning followed by a slightly more complicated afternoon. It is quite difficult to find the best set-up on this
track, especially for the final sector. This is a demanding track but
at the same time it’s enjoyable to drive. The car was well balanced; in the second session we tried a change
to the set-up which did not produce the expected results and so we went
back to the previous one. We have to study the data to find the best
settings. Obviously, it is very early to say where we are compared to our
main rivals. But in any case, I think it will be a very close fight."
Friday quotes: Ferrari – Teammate Felipe Massa – 3th: "On this interesting track, it
is not easy to find the right balance between the slower section and
long main straight. This morning we were quick and the afternoon, our
work was aimed more at the race. We improved the set-up during the day but there is still much to
do. However, the first impressions are positive and I think we can be
competitive."
Photos – Get hi-res images in a RAR file from the forum!
Videos –
FP2 – Onboard with Kimi
http://www.sendspace.com/file/52vfx3
– Practice 1, Kimi Fastest 
Kimi & Ferrari – Right on the edge at Fuji
Kimi was in right in saying he wouldn’t be affected by not using simulators to get accustomed to a new track! He began his Friday morning at the Fuji track more or less behind Massa’s pace however he skipped past that phase and set a fastest lap of 1:19.333. He was on a hurry to improve it later by a few tenths to set the fastest lap of the morning with 1:19.119. He is looking rather comfortable, but long ways to go yet (if you remember, being fastest in FP1 doesn’t always speak the truth – at Monza for example). The Ferrari looks very good through sector 2 in particular and doesn’t seem to shabby in the slow and curvy sector 3 – vital in competing with the better grip of the McLarens.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:19.119 26
2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:19.498 + 0.379 27
3. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:19.667 + 0.548 27
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:19.807 + 0.688 24
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:20.058 + 0.939 26
6. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:20.297 + 1.178 26
7. Wurz Williams-Toyota (B) 1:20.411 + 1.292 24
8. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:20.483 + 1.364 32
9. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:20.516 + 1.397 29
10. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:20.601 + 1.482 22
11. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:20.686 + 1.567 24
12. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:20.718 + 1.599 27
13. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:20.728 + 1.609 26
14. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:20.808 + 1.689 29
15. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:20.828 + 1.709 28
16. Fisichella Renault (B) 1:20.851 + 1.732 23
17. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:21.186 + 2.067 15
18. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.437 + 2.318 18
19. Button Honda (B) 1:21.541 + 2.422 22
20. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:21.854 + 2.735 18
21. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.436 + 3.317 18
22. Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:22.902 + 3.783 17
Photos – Get hi-res images from the forum!
Videos –
FP1 Highlights_______________________________Funny Fuji Preview
http://www.mediafire.com/?2evzyvo5pvx | http://www.mediafire.com/?9rfeywzmzjy
FUCK ISRAEL 