Source: autosport.com | lotusf1team.com | twitter
Persistent rain throughout second practice meant that not a single car completed a flying lap – an event not seen since this very same race in 2006. In other news, Lotus double DRS unlikley to be used at Spa.
Free practice 2:
00mins : It’s raining
05mins : KR gets into his car
17mins : KR gets out of his car
29mins : RG thinks about putting his helmet on ; decides against it
45mins : Halfway stage ; it’s still raining
51mins : Will Buxton and Natalie Pinkham drop by to cheer us up
68mins : The team fire up KR’s engine ; just to keep warm
73mins : Serious debate begins as to the best choice of biscuits with our tea
80mins : RG’s side of the garage is a bit chilly ; same procedure with his car
90mins : An enthralling session of damp media members and biscuit banter concludes
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps 1. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 2m49.354s 4 2. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m49.750s + 0.396s 3 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2m50.497s + 1.143s 3 4. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 2m51.333s + 1.979s 3 5. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 2m51.660s + 2.306s 4 6. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 2m52.076s + 2.722s 4 7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2m53.232s + 3.878s 4 8. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m58.232s + 8.878s 3 9. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 2m59.125s + 9.771s 5 10. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 3m12.901s + 23.547s 4 11. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 3 12. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 4 13. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1 14. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 2 15. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 3 16. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2 17. Felipe Massa Ferrari 2 18. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 3
Kimi Raikkonen – no time: “There’s not much to say about today. It was too wet to run and there was little point as the forecast is for better conditions over the next two days. I’m looking forward to driving the circuit in the dry. It’s a shame that we haven’t been able to evaluate our new developments as it would have been interesting to see how they perform here. Tomorrow is another day, let’s see what happens.”
Romain Grosjean – no time: “It’s a big shame we couldn’t do much running today as it was so wet. I was really looking forward to trying the famous ‘Device’ for the first time, but I guess I’ll have to wait. The weather should be better tomorrow, so we’ll have a busy time getting two days of evaluation into one session and then going straight into qualifying. The E20 has been strong at every circuit so far this year, so I’m sure it will be pretty good around this track in any case.”
James Allison, Technical Director: “The forecast for the next two days is for dry and warmer weather so running today was not very useful in terms of preparing for qualifying or the race. Today’s rain also prevented us from seeing how the ‘Device’ would perform in the expected race conditions. With discretion being the better part of valour we will conduct P3 tomorrow with a conventional aero package rather than attempting to squeeze Friday’s intended evaluation into the precious final practice session. On the plus side we learned today that the cars are working fine and we’re happy to end the day with no damage from running in these difficult conditions.”
Traditionally inclement conditions in the Ardennes brought proceedings to a standstill for the majority of running at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps this morning, as Kimi and Romain conducted a number of analysis runs without setting a time in the opening session of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Key Moments :
08mins : KR & RG out for install laps on full wet tyres
17mins : RG out for a test run in the torrential conditions
55mins : KR ventures out to explore the track
57mins : RG appears once more for a further test run
62mins : KR & RG complete another analysis run apiece
83mins : KR & RG repeat the same cycle ; steady laps without setting a time
90mins : Chequered flag : KR P23, RG P21
Summary :
Damp conditions first thing in the morning turned into a torrential downpour just minutes before the start of first practice at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, with rivers running across the legendary track limiting running to the bare minimum in the early stages.
Initial install runs for both drivers on the blue marked wet Pirelli tyres and a solitary E20 tiptoeing around at the hands of Romain provided the only highlights of the opening 30mins, with steady rain doing nothing to ease the heavy flow of water on track and the majority of teams opting to remain warm and dry in the garage.
A smattering of brief appearances in the mid and latter stages of running from both drivers brought further analysis laps but no time set by either pilot as the highly subdued session came to a close ; Kimi classified in P23 and Romain P21 after completing 9 laps apiece.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps 1. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2m11.389s 20 2. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 2m11.941s + 0.552s 14 3. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m12.004s + 0.615s 12 4. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m12.824s + 1.435s 15 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 2m13.191s + 1.802s 13 6. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 2m13.861s + 2.472s 16 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 2m14.210s + 2.821s 14 8. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 2m14.660s + 3.271s 16 9. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2m14.860s + 3.471s 12 10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 2m15.402s + 4.013s 13 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 2m15.812s + 4.423s 11 12. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 2m16.409s + 5.020s 16 13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 2m16.786s + 5.397s 10 14. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 2m16.788s + 5.399s 16 15. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 2m16.827s + 5.438s 5 16. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2m16.861s + 5.472s 8 17. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 2m17.519s + 6.130s 14 18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 2m18.199s + 6.810s 10 19. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 2m19.546s + 8.157s 12 20. Dani Clos HRT-Cosworth 2m19.689s + 8.300s 12 21. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 2m38.701s + 27.312s 9 22. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2m40.749s + 29.360s 4 23. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 2m46.580s + 35.191s 9 24. Felipe Massa Ferrari 2
FUCK ISRAEL 