Source: autosport.com | lotusf1team.com | twitter
A strong showing from Lotus F1 Team in Free Practice 3 this morning saw both E20’s place inside the top three positions around the Valencia Street Circuit as the countdown to qualifying begins…
Summary:
Clear blue skies and glorious sunshine greeted the teams in Valencia this morning as the final practice session of the weekend got underway. After a productive day of long run simulations on Friday, the focus for Lotus F1 Team was now on squeezing every last drop of pace from the E20 in preparation for qualifying later today.
Kimi and Romain departed the garage moments after the green flags were waved to complete their install laps on the white marked medium compound Pirelli tyres; data collection, system checks and oil dips forming the standard pre-run procedure.
With eleven minutes elapsed, the Frenchman pulled up at the end of the pit lane for a practice start before taking to the track for his first run; setting the first time of the day in the process with the track to himself.
His Finnish counterpart followed almost immediately afterwards, setting a time just fractions slower with his first attempt – both drivers sporting fresh sets of medium tyres.
At the end of their first stints, Kimi found himself in P2 with Romain in P4 after short runs for the pair; a strong early showing from the E20 around the Valencia Street Circuit.
Second stints followed shortly afterwards; the 2007 World Champion sporting scrubbed medium tyres while his team-mate became the first driver to use the yellow marked soft compound Pirelli tyres, setting the fastest time of the session despite a mistake on his opening lap.
With just over ten minutes remaining Kimi took to the track for his final run – his first of the day on the soft tyres – setting a time just one tenth shy of Romain’s best effort from earlier in the session.
Not to be outdone, the Frenchman emerged for his last stint of the morning on a set of scrubbed soft tyres. Just minutes later, the entire field (less Mark Webber) were out on the circuit as each team aimed for one last flying effort before qualifying this afternoon.
Once the scramble had calmed and the dust settled, Kimi ended the morning in P3 with a fastest time of 1:38.759 from 18 laps, while Romain’s best effort of 1:38.655 from 18 laps was good enough for P2. A quick pit-stop practice followed for the pair to end the session, as all eyes now turn to qualifying…
Pos--Driver---------------Team------------------Time--------------Laps 1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.562 17 2. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m38.655s + 0.093 18 3. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m38.759s + 0.197 18 4. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m38.819s + 0.257 17 5. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m38.892s + 0.330 17 6. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.084s + 0.522 20 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m39.141s + 0.579 15 8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.178s + 0.616 17 9. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m39.318s + 0.756 15 10. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m39.357s + 0.795 18 11. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.358s + 0.796 19 12. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m39.395s + 0.833 15 13. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m39.434s + 0.872 13 14. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m39.543s + 0.981 13 15. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m39.946s + 1.384 20 16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m40.037s + 1.475 17 17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m40.134s + 1.572 20 18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m40.681s + 2.119 15 19. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m41.282s + 2.720 4 20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m41.931s + 3.369 15 21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m42.758s + 4.196 14 22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m42.815s + 4.253 16 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m42.943s + 4.381 14 24. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m43.124s + 4.562 16
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