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Free practice 2 – report and times:
Long runs and plenty of work on the yellow marked soft compound Pirelli tyres saw Kimi and Romain rack up a healthy number of laps in Free Practice 2 from the Valencia Street Circuit this afternoon; ending the day in P11 and P8 respectively during another productive session for the team.
Summary:
As Free Practice 2 got underway this afternoon, warmer conditions and a drop in wind speed from the morning session created a slightly more representative scenario for the teams ahead of the expected heat wave forecast for the rest of the weekend.
Both drivers emerged immediately from the garage as the green flags were waved; Kimi sporting a fresh set of white marked medium compound tyres with Romain opting for a scrubbed set of the same rubber.
Long runs were the order of the day as the team analysed the E20’s performance on different tyre compounds under heavy fuel loads; starting with the medium and then focusing on the softer options.
The only slight interruption during an otherwise productive session came when Pedro De La Rosa buried his HRT in the tyre barriers at Turn 14, bringing out the yellow flags and subsequently causing the team to call both drivers into the pits.
Romain set pulses racing on the pit wall with a big lock up during his final stint; the Frenchman putting a significant flat spot on his tyres and almost collecting Michael Schumacher in the process.
With a good distance completed and a host of data gathered in preparation for the rest of the weekend, Kimi brought his E20 home in P11 with a best time of 1:39.945 from 34 laps, while Romain returned to base having set a 1:39.868 from 33 laps; good enough for P8 as the last cars crossed the line.
Pos--Driver---------------Team-------------------Time---------------Laps 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m39.334 33 2. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m39.465s + 0.131 32 3. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.595s + 0.261 20 4. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m39.601s + 0.267 27 5. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m39.644s + 0.310 34 6. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m39.700s + 0.366 32 7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m39.733s + 0.399 34 8. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m39.868s + 0.534 33 9. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m39.901s + 0.567 30 10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m39.926s + 0.592 32 11. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m39.945s + 0.611 34 12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.990s + 0.656 33 13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m40.075s + 0.741 29 14. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m40.147s + 0.813 25 15. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m40.244s + 0.910 35 16. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.511s + 1.177 29 17. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m40.963s + 1.629 20 18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.121s + 1.787 32 19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m41.197s + 1.863 38 20. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.263s + 1.929 29 21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m42.424s + 3.090 21 22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m42.958s + 3.624 30 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m44.201s + 4.867 33 24. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m44.260s + 4.926 12
Kimi Raikkonen – 11th: “The car feels okay and there were no issues. The wind was a bit of a factor in the morning but it was better in the afternoon. I was stuck in traffic for quite a bit of my long run in the second session, so I wasn’t able to go as fast as the car was capable of, but we don’t have any issues on that front. The E20’s strong point always seems to be its race pace but of course we are looking to make it quicker in qualifying. Let’s see how it is tomorrow morning and we’ll do whatever’s necessary. We’ll make a few changes to the car for sure, but I think we’re pretty okay.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “It’s been a straight-forward and issue-free Friday for us. We conducted aero evaluation of a new front wing and new floor and we will be considering the data this evening. In the afternoon we concentrated on race pace and tyre management so our finishing positions, as usual, don’t necessarily represent where we expect to be after qualifying tomorrow. Overall, we’re very happy with the way the E20 is performing here. There is some scope for improvement to get both Kimi and Romain 100% happy with their cars, which we will work on tomorrow morning. In terms of long run pace we think we are looking competitive.”
Free practice 1 – report and times:
A relatively cool morning by Valencia standards saw Lotus F1 Team trial a range of new parts for the E20, as Kimi and Romain ran through a typically busy schedule to bring the cars home in P10 / P11 respectively.
Summary:
After the intense heat of Thursday, Friday morning brought far cooler conditions as the first session of the weekend kicked off at the Valencia Street Circuit.
A host of alterations to both E20s were on show as the garage shutters rolled up, including floor, rear suspension and steering tweaks for Kimi and a new front wing for Romain.
With three minutes elapsed, both drivers departed the garage for their install laps on matching sets of the white marked medium compound Pirelli tyre.
A lull in the action followed while various adjustments were made to the cars, with first runs for the Finn and Frenchman eventually kicking off with thirty minutes on the board.
Kimi instantly went quickest with his opening lap, with Romain following close behind. As the first runs came to a close, the pair found themselves in second and third respectively.
Both drivers returned to the tarmac for their second runs with just over half an hour remaining, working through the usual Friday programme focused on developing the car for Sunday’s race rather than seeking outright single lap pace.
This would prove to be the final stint of the morning for Romain, who remained deep in discussion with his engineers down in the garage for the rest of the session.
Kimi meanwhile took to the track or one final run with seven minutes to go, rounding things off by putting the pit-crew through their paces with a practice stop.
As the chequered flag dropped, Kimi found himself in P10 with a best time of 1:41.620 from 22 laps, while Romain’s best effort of 1:41.784 from 15 laps was good enough for P11.
Pos--Driver---------------Team------------------Time--------------Laps 1. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m40.890s 22 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m40.973s + 0.083 21 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m40.984s + 0.094 19 4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m40.994s + 0.104 19 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m41.065s + 0.175 26 6. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m41.105s + 0.215 15 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m41.117s + 0.227 22 8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m41.158s + 0.268 18 9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m41.182s + 0.292 21 10. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m41.620s + 0.730 21 11. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m41.784s + 0.894 15 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.838s + 0.948 19 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.861s + 0.971 16 14. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m42.109s + 1.219 20 15. Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes 1m42.175s + 1.285 21 16. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m42.299s + 1.409 24 17. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m42.442s + 1.552 26 18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m42.758s + 1.868 26 19. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m42.777s + 1.887 28 20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m43.209s + 2.319 19 21. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m44.173s + 3.283 18 22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m44.996s + 4.106 15 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m45.120s + 4.230 23 24. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m45.338s + 4.448 7
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