2009 Grand Prix of Turkey, Practice Sessions 1, 2 & 3

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time              Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1:27.983           26
 2.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:28.022 + 0.039   21
 3.  Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:28.094 + 0.111   23
 4.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:28.122 + 0.139   19
 5.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:28.320 + 0.337   20
 6.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:28.332 + 0.349   21
 7.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:28.360 + 0.377   19
 8.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:28.364 + 0.381   19
 9.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:28.415 + 0.432   16
10.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:28.451 + 0.468   18
11.  Piquet        Renault              (B)  1:28.503 + 0.520   15
12.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:28.563 + 0.580   19
13.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:28.678 + 0.695   18
14.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:28.715 + 0.732   19
15.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:28.738 + 0.755   19
16.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:29.050 + 1.067   18
17.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:29.076 + 1.093   19
18.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:29.167 + 1.184   21
19.  Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:29.261 + 1.278   15
20.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:29.421 + 1.438   17


News & Quotes:
Briatore baffled by FIA/FOTA row 
Track conditions leave drivers unsure 

 Well! We shall see the truth in qualifying between Massa and Kimi, and what really is making the huge gap despite both using the updated F60. Massa says he knows how to find the perfect set-up for this circuit in particular, so it’s up to Kimi and his engineers to work around that. Come on Kimi…you’ll find a way.



Free Practice 2 – Kovalainen Goes Fastest
Full practice report can be read here  
 

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:28.841            37
 2.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:28.847  + 0.006   35
 3.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:29.056  + 0.215   35
 4.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:29.091  + 0.250   37
 5.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:29.202  + 0.361   4
 6.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:29.207  + 0.366   40
 7.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:29.257  + 0.416   40
 8.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:29.305  + 0.464   34
 9.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:29.383  + 0.542   39
10.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:29.401  + 0.560   38
11.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:29.416  + 0.575   37
12.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:29.430  + 0.589   32
13.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:29.435  + 0.594   31
14.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:29.518  + 0.677   40
15.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:29.520  + 0.679   33
16.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:29.550  + 0.709   40
17.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:30.081  + 1.240   32
18.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:30.091  + 1.250   37
19.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:30.295  + 1.454   39
20.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:30.629  + 1.788   36

News & Quotes:
Ferrari Team Quotes – Kimi Raikkonen: “At this track, conditions change very

quickly, so it is difficult to judge the performance of the various

cars on the basis of today’s results. The track is very dirty and,

after making some changes to the set-up, the car seemed to handle a bit

strangely, but then it was back to normal for my final run in FP2.

There is still work to do on the car but I am confident: I think we

will find the right solutions to be competitive tomorrow and on

Sunday.” 
Chris Dyer: “It was a rather complicated day, because

of the track conditions, it being dirty and also because of the wind.

We got through our programme without the slightest problem,

concentrating on tyre choice for the race, finding the best set-up on

the car and on evaluating new aerodynamic solutions which are making

their track debut today. Both the compounds that Bridgestone brought

here seem to be pretty critical in terms of grip, at least from what we

could see today. But we know the situation will improve bit by bit as

the track gets rubbered in. All in all, we are reasonably satisfied

with what we’ve seen today. I think that again here in Turkey, we will

be able to confirm the progress seen in Spain and Monaco.”

 That was definately a more muddled session as I guessed, there are now 16 drivers within a second of the fastest time and BMW are finally showing they do still exist this season by getting the third quickest time. Kimi didn’t use the updated F60 in the first session but he began trying the new components in the second, which explains the slower time. But he is only a tenth behind Massa who has been using the updated car since this morning. So…we’ve got to wait for tomorrow now to see how the cars are performing. Keep Flying Kimi!



Free Practice 1 – Rosberg Leads First Practice
Full practice report can be read here  
 

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:28.952            24
 2.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:29.263  + 0.311   23
 3.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:29.271  + 0.319   26
 4.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:29.337  + 0.385   17
 5.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:29.342  + 0.390   22
 6.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:29.371  + 0.419   21
 7.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:29.398  + 0.446   24
 8.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:29.422  + 0.470   24
 9.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:29.525  + 0.573   24
10.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:29.590  + 0.638   19
11.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:29.747  + 0.795   20
12.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:29.864  + 0.912   21
13.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:29.934  + 0.982   25
14.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:30.132  + 1.180   18
15.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:30.176  + 1.224   21
16.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:30.645  + 1.693   22
17.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:30.689  + 1.737   19
18.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:30.729  + 1.777   22
19.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:30.838  + 1.886   24
20.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:30.944  + 1.992   25

Breaking News & Quotes:
Turkey expects ‘tough’ fight to retain GP 
Teams seeking solution, not new series  
 
 The competition is much closer than I thought, here at Turkey! The top 13 drivers are all within a second of the fastest time set by practice Queen Rosberg. It’ll be quite varied in the next session too I think, as the drivers try and work on getting the best set-up for this different circuit. The tyres provided for this weekend are the soft and hard compounds so let’s hope Ferrari and Kimi get the best strategy ready for tomorrow’s qualifying. The weather today is gorgeous – sunny and warm like all previous Turkish GP weekends. But will Kimi finally make Massa get hot under the collar at his beloved circuit? Keep Flying!