30/07/2011
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's sole practice session, the air temperature is 21 degrees C, while the track temperature is 32 degrees. The sky is blue but it's quite windy.
Hamilton topped the timesheets in both sessions yesterday however, Alonso and Button gave him a run for his money, with Webber, Vettel and Massa in hot pursuit.
The warmer conditions today will play into Ferrari's hands. However, with the Virgins and HRTs posting times outside the 107% limit yesterday it will be interesting to see how they fare this afternoon... especially if the big guns use the option rubber.
Tyres this weekend are soft (prime) and supersoft (option) the softer rubber around 1s quicker but only good for one hot lap. Indeed, the primes were good yesterday with little degradation and some respectable times being posted even at the end of long runs. The supersofts are good for around 15 laps… suggesting a three stop strategy with softs used for two stints. Again, McLaren and Ferrari appeared to have the edge.
To add to Vettel's misery, his crew worked through the night stripping his car right down after he complained that he wasn't happy with it. Some sections of the media - admittedly as hysterical as its British cousins - claim the youngster's title bid is blown.
The lights go green and Kovalainen leads the way, followed by Glock, Liuzzi, d'Ambrosio, Trulli and Ricciardo. Indeed, within a minute or two everyone has been out for an exploratory lap.
Both Red Bulls are running the same front wing today, Vettel unhappy with the version he used in Germany. Also, there are a few minor differences to the diffuser. Both Williams drivers running different front wings.
Eight minutes into the session, d'Ambrosio is the first driver out for a second run. The Belgian crosses the line at 1:32.884 as Kovalainen, Glock, Liuzzi, Trulli, Kobayashi and Perez head down the pitlane.
No sooner has d'Ambrosio improved to 30.634 than Kobayashi posts a 27.338. Moments later, the Japanese posts a 26.188 while teammate Perez goes second with a 26.246.
More and more drivers pour on to the track, the Mercedes duo going quickest, Rosberg posting a 24.464. However, the Silver cars were highly disappointing yesterday and we're not expecting much of them this weekend.
A 23.526 sees Button go quickest, the Englishman the first of the front runners to make an appearance - apologies to Rosberg and Schumacher.
Schumacher complains that after just 6 laps he is losing the rear tyres. The German is on the soft compound.
As Alonso consolidates his top spot with a 23.016, Vettel begins his first flying lap and Alonso claims into his Ferrari.
Having gone quickest in the last two sectors, Vettel goes quickest overall, crossing the line at 22.360. Hamilton goes second with a 22.978 and Webber fourth (23.629). Next time around the Australian improves with a 23.207 but remains fourth.
Hamilton runs wide as Vettel goes quickest in S1 and again in S2. Webber posts 22.857 to go second. Vettel crosses the line at 22.021, giving him a comfort cushion of 0.836s.
Hamilton is told that having found two-tenth on his last lap he still needs to find another two-tenths.
As Maldonado runs wide, there is frenzied activity in the Mercedes garage where the crews are working on both Schumacher's and Rosberg's cars.
Approaching half time, the Ferrari duo finally leave the pits. On his first flying lap Massa goes fifth (23.722) and Alonso sixteenth (25.572). The Spaniard, in particular, appears to be on a heavy fuel load.
As Trulli gets all out of shape in Turn 9, Schumacher is back on track on options - the first driver to make thee switch. At the second split he is already 0.85s down on Vettel even though the German is pushing hard. Then again, he could be on a heavy fuel load. Elsewhere, Massa run wide in 6/7 and is lucky not to clout the barriers.
Rosberg (options) goes quickest in S1 and posts a PB in S2. The German crosses the line at 22.534, thereby going second.
Replay shows something fly off Liuzzi's car - possibly a front wing endplate. The Italian is currently twenty-third, 6.9s off the pace.
Unseen, Alonso has improves to fifth with a 22.834. Teammate Massa is eighth.
Webber (primes) goes quickest in S3 but remains fourth, 0.662s down on his pace-setting teammate who is also on track. The Garman goes quickest in S2 but fails to improve on his previous best.
Alonso is back on track, now on the option rubber. He's the first of the really big guns to make the switch. The Spaniard goes quickest in S2, finally crossing the line at 21.469 to take the top spot. That's despite losing a few fractions behind Rosberg.
With 10:00 on the clock we can expect to see more improvement as all the drivers switch to options with an eye on this afternoon's session. Unlike some of the previous races, it is widely felt that pole here is important.
Massa posts PBs in all three sectors to go second but back in the garage Rob Smedley looks far from impressed.
Hamilton runs wide in Turn 1, effectively destroying his first lap on the options. He subsequently tells the team that his brakes didn't work.
Button, like Massa, posts PBs in all three sectors to go second, 0.170s down on Alonso.
Webber (options) is on his out lap, with a Virgin right behind and Schumacher behind him. The Australian begins his first flying lap on the softer rubber. He's 0.186s up on Alonso at the first split and 0.535s at the second. He's quickest in S3 crossing the line at 21.645, closing to within 0.176 of Alonso.
All eyes on Vettel who is on the softer rubber. The German appears to be back on his usual form as he posts 21.168 to go quickest, 0.301s quicker than Alonso. Hamilton's face tells the story of his frustration.
The session ends with Vettel quickest, ahead of Alonso, Button, Webber, Massa, Rosberg, Hamilton, Schumacher, Petrov and di Resta.
Heidfeld is eleventh, ahead of Perez, Kobayashi, Barrichello, Maldonado, Sutil, Alguersuari, Buemi, Trulli, Kovalainen, d'Ambrosio, Ricciardo, Glock and Liuzzi.