| Free Practise 3 – Alonso Fastest in Final Practise, Car Woes For Kimi
Fernando Alonso continued his promising Singapore form by topping a second consecutive practice session at the Marina Bay track.
In a repeat of his practice two performance, the Renault driver
vaulted up the order with an aggressive late lap, setting a 1:44.506
after 58 minutes.
Alonso’s effort on soft tyres gave him a comfortable margin over the
rest of the field, as he beat second-placed Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren by
six tenths of a second.
Felipe Massa was third for Ferrari, but the Brazilian set his best
time on the harder tyres, and was only 0.127 seconds adrift of Hamilton.
Nelson Piquet claimed fourth in the second Renault, having led the
way until the final few minutes, with Williams’ Nico Rosberg impressed
again in fifth, and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen languishing in 17th after
an error.
Monza winner Sebastian Vettel led the way for much of the hour in
his Toro Rosso, having leapt to the top by a comfortable margin with
his first flying lap of the session. The German stayed ahead until the
35-minute mark, when Piquet beat his time by four tenths of a second.
It was another unhappy session for struggling world champion
Raikkonen, who locked up and slid off-course at Turn 7. The Finn tried
in vain to turn his undamaged Ferrari around in the escape road before
eventually having to admit defeat and park the car, ending his session
with 15 minutes remaining…(read full report here)
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Alonso Renault (B) 1:44.506 19
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.119 + 0.613 13
3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:45.246 + 0.740 16
4. Piquet Renault (B) 1:45.249 + 0.743 18
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:45.386 + 0.880 17
6. Button Honda (B) 1:45.409 + 0.903 20
7. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:45.425 + 0.919 17
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:45.450 + 0.944 21
9. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:45.477 + 0.971 19
10. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:45.599 + 1.093 18
11. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:45.689 + 1.183 19
12. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:45.982 + 1.476 18
13. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.982 + 1.476 13
14. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:46.073 + 1.567 21
15. Glock Toyota (B) 1:46.180 + 1.674 23
16. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:46.221 + 1.715 19
17. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:46.482 + 1.976 10
18. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:46.794 + 2.288 6
19. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:47.166 + 2.660 14
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:47.727 + 3.221 19
| Free Practise 2 – Alonso Goes Fastest
Fernando Alonso sprung a surprise in second practice for the
Singapore Grand Prix, beating Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time in the
closing seconds of the session.
The Renault driver outpaced the McLaren by 0.098 seconds, with
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen third and
fourth, and Nico Rosberg impressing again for Williams in fifth.
Hamilton was quickest for the majority of the session, swiftly
moving ahead of early pacesetter Rosberg and then chipping away at his
time for the next hour and steadily edging further ahead.
Massa, who took a couple of detours down escape roads without
damage, usurped the McLaren with 15 minutes remaining, with Hamilton’s
teammate Kovalainen then pushing the Briton down to third as he lapped
just 0.004 seconds slower than Massa.
It didn’t take long for Hamilton to respond, though, as he
switched to the softer tyres for the last few minutes and lapped in
1:45.752, beating Massa by 0.041 seconds.
Until Alonso’s late lap, it looked like Hamilton was set to
remain on top. But the Renault produced a 1:45.654 just before the
chequered flag, after a spectacular lap on the super-soft tyres.
However Hamilton’s practice one benchmark of 1:45.518 would
remain the fastest lap of the day – demonstrating how quickly the teams
and drivers had got to grips with the circuit, and that the track had
offered competitive conditions right from the outset rather than first
practice being spent cleaning a dusty surface.
Behind the top four, Rosberg was on the pace throughout the
session again and took fifth, ahead of BMW’s Robert Kubica. Kimi
Raikkonen only managed seventh in the second Ferrari, with Jenson
Button also continuing his promising earlier form to take eighth for
Honda…(read full report here)
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Alonso Renault (B) 1:45.654 30
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.752 + 0.098 28
3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:45.793 + 0.139 31
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.797 + 0.143 31
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:46.164 + 0.510 34
6. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:46.384 + 0.730 36
7. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:46.580 + 0.926 25
8. Button Honda (B) 1:46.901 + 1.247 32
9. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:47.013 + 1.359 32
10. Glock Toyota (B) 1:47.046 + 1.392 22
11. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:47.137 + 1.483 1512. Piquet Renault (B) 1:47.145 + 1.491 35
13. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.300 + 1.646 33
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.487 + 1.833 24
15. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:47.640 + 1.986 31
16. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:47.760 + 2.106 36
17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:47.965 + 2.311 12
18. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:48.009 + 2.355 25
19. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:48.059 + 2.405 28
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:48.311 + 2.657 36Kimi Raikkonen – 7th: "The visibility is great and
you don’t really feel you are driving at night with all the lights on
the track. In general I like the track although some parts are too
bumpy. The entry and exit to the pit lane are pretty difficult and we
will have to be very careful."At the start of the day, we had a well balanced car and then, in
the afternoon, we tried a modification to the front end that we had
tried at the Mugello test last week, but it did not produce the effect
we hoped for, but there was not enough time to switch back. Overall, I
think we will be competitive."Overtaking? I don’t think we will see
much, as usual in fact."
Lewis Hamilton emerged fastest for McLaren in the historic first
practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix, as Formula One cars took
to the track under floodlights for the first time ever.The Ferraris took second and third, with Felipe Massa just
0.080 seconds behind Hamilton and four tenths of a second ahead of
teammate Kimi Raikkonen.Heikki Kovalainen completed the top four in the second McLaren, followed by BMW’s Robert Kubica.
Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) and Jenson Button (Honda) had
the honour of being the first men to take to the track and the first to
set a flying lap respectively, but it was Toyota’s Timo Glock and
Renault’s Fernando Alonso who emerged as the early pace-setters after
the opening runs.The title contenders started cautiously and gradually built up
speed, with Hamilton the first of them to hit the front when he lapped
in 1:47.160 as the session passed its halfway point.Alonso briefly got back ahead of Hamilton with his next flying
lap, before the Ferraris each took a turn at the top with half an hour
remaining.Hamilton was still finding more time, though, as he edged back
ahead of Raikkonen by 0.068 seconds then improved by a further tenth of
a second later in his run.Raikkonen threatened to beat Hamilton in the final two
minutes, only to lose time in the final sector, while Hamilton then
went quicker still on his last lap and produced a 1:45.518.Massa then leapt to second, just 0.080 seconds adrift of the
McLaren in the closing moments, as Raikkonen chose to abandon what
looked like an even quicker final lap…(read full report here)Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.518 20
2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:45.598 + 0.080 23
3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:45.961 + 0.443 24
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:46.463 + 0.945 20
5. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:46.618 + 1.100 23
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:46.710 + 1.192 25
7. Alonso Renault (B) 1:46.725 + 1.207 29
8. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:46.964 + 1.446 24
9. Piquet Renault (B) 1:47.175 + 1.657 30
10. Button Honda (B) 1:47.277 + 1.759 30
11. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.570 + 2.052 28
12. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:47.662 + 2.144 23
13. Glock Toyota (B) 1:47.706 + 2.188 27
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:48.097 + 2.579 16
15. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:48.517 + 2.999 23
16. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:48.725 + 3.207 19
17. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:48.839 + 3.321 24
18. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:48.906 + 3.388 25
19. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:49.064 + 3.546 29
20. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:53.703 + 8.185 4
FUCK ISRAEL 
Thanks Saima for putting up the news… My heart ached when I watched the F1 Live Timing and it showed Kimi "STOP" on Lap 10 S2… Thank goodness nothing serious happened and the car is not damaged. Fingers crossed for the Quali later!! GO KIMI!!
KEEP FLYING KIMI!!!! KEEP SMILING AND FLYING EVENSTAR!!!!
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Wow, that was some qualifying and practise sesssions. YiNing if you think your heart stopped, well mine was in my mouth, I watched that happen (we are sitting between turns 7 & 8) and to see that red car disappear down the escape road and not return was heartbreaking. The marshalls were a pain too, I felt like throttling them they waited ages before going to help him, and then poor Kimi couldn’t even get a decent ride back to the pits, he sort of told the motorcycle driver/rider what for when he got on. Then qualifying, that first session…Kimi in 17th place for ages and then came back to take first. Simply brilliant. Great to see him up there in 3rd spot for the start. I think it may be a dud race overtaking wise, having watched some of the support races, but there are so many potential spots for disaster it is scary. It will be interesting to see how the race pans out.
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Wow Blackcat…. I don’t envy you (actually I do …:)). For me it was the agony of not knowing what happened for a long time, but for you to watch it happen before your eyes…
Most drivers said it’s a very demanding circuit, so I believe it’s going to be interesting to watch.
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In this morning’s Autosport.com talked about Kimi’s car woes on practice 3… Now I know why you want to throttle the marshalls…
"As for the amusement – it was Kimi Raikkonen who supplied it. To be precise, it was the marshals as they edged towards the Finn’s stricken Ferrari up an escape road during free practice as if it were an unexploded bomb.
Of course, had they realised the extraordinary lengths the Singapore authorities had gone to make sure no-one brought any contraband into the paddock with metal detectors and searches at the paddock gate, they’d have known that he couldn’t even have smuggled in some chewing gum."
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