04/03/2005
NEWS STORY
 |
As the cars prepare for today's second session - which will hopefully see a little more action - the air temperature is 21 degrees C, while the track temperature is 27 degrees.
The good news is that the Minardi issue appears to have been resolved - for now - with Paul Stoddart claiming that he now has all nine signatures and that his cars will take part in the session.
The light at the end of the pitlane goes green and Kimi Raikkonen is first on track, closely followed by Karthikeyan, Doornbos and Monteiro.
De la Rosa is next out, followed by Liuzzi, Zonta, Ralf, Coulthard and Klien.
No installation laps this time around, as one by one the drivers continue on past the pits and post the first times of this second hour. As the dust settles it's de la Rosa quickest (1:29.589) ahead of Ralf, Doornbos, Karthikeyan, Monteiro and Raikkonen.
Moments later Coulthard goes quickest, the Scot crossing the line in 1:28.867. Teammate Tonio Liuzzi goes second ahead of de la Rosa, Ralf and Klien.
Ralf goes quickest with a 1:28.850 as Doornbos spins but quickly continues on his way again.
Fisichella is on track as de la Rosa goes quickest, though moments later it's Klien's turn to top the timesheets, the Austrian posting 1:28.253.
Button goes seventh and Villeneuve goes ninth, only ten minutes gone and already we have fifteen names on the timesheets.
A 1:28.425 sees Fisichella go quickest, only to be bumped down seconds later by teammate Fernando Alonso, who posts a 1:27.940. Elsewhere, Montoya and his nemesis Michael Schumacher are on track.
Liuzzi's session is over, he goes off and becomes embedded in the kitty litter. Just a little bit too ambitious.
Juan Pablo Montoya goes quickest, the McLaren driver crossing the line at 1:27.752, Schumacher can only manage 1:28.919, which puts him tenth.
With fifteen minutes gone, everyone has posted a time except for Barrichello, Massa and the Minardi duo.
Alonso takes back the top spot form Montoya, leaving teammate Fisichella third ahead of Button, Klien, de la Rosa, Zonta, Ralf, Coulthard and Michael.
Having been languishing near the bottom of the timesheets, Webber goes fifth, only to be bumped down by Barrichello, who posts 1:28.320, to go fourth.
Karthikeyan makes a mistake and hits de la Rosa's rear tyre, the Spaniard goes off track but is able to continue.
Coulthard improves again and goes second, just 0.266s off de la Rosa's pace. Meanwhile, Massa goes fourth with a 1:27.691.
de la Rosa, Coulthard, Alonso, Massa, Montoya, Zonta, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Barrichello and Webber, that's the order after twenty-five minutes.
Still no sign of the Minardis.
Jenson Button posts a 1:27.565 to go third, as DC re-takes the top spot with a 1:27.128. Moments later it's Fisichella who goes quickest, the Italian stopping the clock at 1:27.116.
Meanwhile, the FIA announces that the Minardis will not run, having decided that the issue "is too complicated". We know what they mean. However, this isn't good for Minardi or indeed F1.
Kimi Raikkonen is the first driver to break the 1:26 barrier, the Finn going quickest with a 1:26.692. Teammate Montoya is tenth, however he goes quickest in the second sector and goes on to cross the line at 1:26.227, putting McLaren first and second. Elsewhere, Jacques Villeneuve goes seventh.
Rubens Barrichello improves to eleventh as fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa goes tenth. Michael Schumacher, who is nineteenth, having completed just five laps, is back on track.
A 1:27.002 sees Barrichello go second, as Schumacher slides up the timesheet to seventh (1:27.236). The German continues around, shadowed by Alonso, though neither of them improve. Massa does however, the Sauber star posting 1:26.357 to go third.
Jenson Button goes seventh as teammate Sato still languishes in seventeenth, meanwhile Schumacher pops in a 1:26.776 to go fourth. It's now McLaren, McLaren, Sauber, Ferrari, Ferrari and Red Bull.
Ralf Schumacher spins off and for a moment looks to be stuck in the gravel, however, he's able to continue.
The two Ferraris are enjoying a great battle with Michael and Rubens constantly changing places as they close in on Montoya.
Kimi Raikkonen goes quickest in the first sector, but loses time in the second, he fails to improve. Elsewhere, Trulli goes ninth.
Heidfeld improves (slightly) to fourteenth, both WilliamsF1 drivers in the wrong half of the timesheets. Indeed the Bars and Toyotas are also disappointing.
Giancarlo Fisichella has a big spin, but he too is able to continue.
Mark Webber also improves, but can only manage fifteenth, not the sort of start to the season that WilliamsF1, nor indeed BMW, was looking for.
Although the Renaults are sixth (Alonso) and ninth (Fisichella), it's worth noting that Fisi is quickest through all the speed-traps.
Five minutes remaining and there's an audible groan along the pitlane, Michael goes quickest with a 1:26.081, that's 0.146s faster than Montoya. However, Zonta is also on a quick lap, the Brazilian going quickest in the second sector. A 1:26.808 sees the Brazilian go sixth, 0.727s off the pace, but considerably better than his two teammates have managed.
de la Rosa goes quickest in the first sector, can he restore McLaren honour? He's quickest again in the second, and in the third, crossing the line in an astonishing 1:25.376, eclipsing Michael by 0.705s.
Jenson Button improves to eighth with a 1:26.964 only to lose position to Alonso and then Heidfeld who goes second with just seconds of the session remaining.
Kimi Raikkonen makes a valiant attempt, going quickest in the first and final sectors, but misses out on the top spot by 0.300s.
The session ends with three McLarens in the top five, along with a WilliamsF1 and that man Schumacher.
Again, not the most scintillating of sessions, but definitely an improvement on the first.
Certainly, McLaren is continuing to show the form it displayed in testing, while Ferrari and Renault are certainly 'up there'. An important lap from Heidfeld will have given Williams a boost just when it was looking a little sour.
It's far too early to call, however Toyota in particular has work to do, as does BAR. Without the Minardis it's difficult to tell just how bad the Jordans are, while Red Bull is still performing better than many expected.
That said, it's still early days.