Raikkonen leads wet practice 1 - Brazil

[fasteddy]

By Matt Beer Friday, October 19th 2007, 13:33 GMT


Kimi Raikkonen led a Ferrari one-two in the damp opening practice session at Interlagos, with Lewis Hamilton taking fifth and Fernando Alonso choosing not to participate.

Drizzle fell throughout the session, occasionally increasing to a heavier rain shower and ensuring that a dry line never appeared.

The title contenders sat out most of the morning, allowing Kazuki Nakajima, Jarno Trulli, Sebastian Vettel, Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and Nico Rosberg to all take turns on top as the weather fluctuated.

The Ferraris eventually emerged in the final 15 minutes and swiftly moved into first and second. Felipe Massa was the faster of the pair initially, before Raikkonen moved ahead by half a second with his last lap.

Hamilton made two comparatively tentative runs near the end of the morning, eventually taking fifth position. But his McLaren teammate Alonso decided to limit himself to an installation lap, as did the BMW pair and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Heikki Kovalainen ultimately took third for Renault, 1.2 seconds off the pace and just ahead of Rosberg and Hamilton.

Schumacher was sixth despite a quick spin late on, with Vettel moving back up to seventh near the end having been pushed back into the midfield as others improved.

Mark Webber, Trulli and Vitantonio Liuzzi completed the top ten.

Despite the treacherous conditions, there were few incidents. Along with Schumacher's spin, Sakon Yamamoto also had a quick trip off the road, while Adrian Sutil explored the run-off at the Senna S on two consecutive laps during one of the harder showers.

Pos  Driver        Team                    Time              Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari            (B)  1:19.580    9
 2.  Massa         Ferrari            (B)  1:20.062   10
 3.  Kovalainen    Renault            (B)  1:20.829   19
 4.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:21.064   14
 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:21.121   10
 6.  R.Schumacher  Toyota             (B)  1:21.243   22
 7.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:21.598   22
 8.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:22.104   12
 9.  Trulli        Toyota             (B)  1:22.104   26
10.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:22.250   17
11.  Barrichello   Honda              (B)  1:22.434   23
12.  Button        Honda              (B)  1:22.477   22
13.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:22.667   16
14.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:22.929   19
15.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:23.248   30
16.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:23.261   26
17.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:23.551   20
18.  Yamamoto      Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:24.366   25
19.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber         (B)              1
20.  Kubica        BMW Sauber         (B)              1
21.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes   (B)              1
22.  Fisichella    Renault            (B)              2

All timing unofficial

[fasteddy]

Hamilton investigated for tyre rule breach

By Jonathan Noble Friday, October 19th 2007, 15:56 GMT


World championship leader Lewis Hamilton is one of three drivers under investigation by the race stewards at the Brazilian Grand Prix for breaching the wet weather tyre rules.

McLaren's Hamilton, Honda's Jenson Button, and Super Aguri's Takuma Sato were deemed to have used two sets of wet weather tyres during the first free practice session at Interlagos, in breach of the Sporting Regulations.

Article 25.3 of the F1 Sporting Regulations states: "No driver may use more than one set of wet and one set of extreme weather tyres during P1 and P2."

The matter was brought to the race stewards' attention by FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer, and it is not clear at this stage whether or not the drivers involved will face any sanction.

All three drivers have been summoned to see the stewards individually following the end of the second practice session.

[fasteddy]

Hamilton tops practice 2 - Brazil

By Matt Beer Friday, October 19th 2007, 17:33 GMT


Championship leader Lewis Hamilton beat title rival Fernando Alonso to the fastest time in Friday afternoon practice at Interlagos.

Despite the looming prospect of a post-session visit to the stewards to find out if he will be penalised for using too many sets of wet tyres earlier on, Hamilton set the fastest time by 0.122 seconds when both McLarens tried the softer Bridgestones in the final minutes.

The Ferraris only managed third and fourth places.

After the rain that affected first practice, only a few damp areas remained when the second session began. A few drivers experimented with intermediate tyres initially, but once Mark Webber had gone quickest by 2.6 seconds on dry tyres, the rest of the field swiftly followed suit.

With track conditions improving all the time, the top spot quickly changed hands during the following half an hour. Alonso's early 1:16.081 benchmark did not last long before Hamilton embarked on a long run that eventually took him down to a 1:14.949 lap.

Felipe Massa then took a brief turn on top before Alonso reclaimed first place. The BMW drivers were next to lead the way when they tried the softer tyres, with Robert Kubica holding a six tenths of a second advantage over the rest of the field at the halfway point.

Alonso's first run on soft tyres was spoilt by traffic, but on the second attempt he produced a 1:13.239 and beat Kubica by 0.3 seconds.

That proved insufficient when Hamilton switched to softs five minutes later. The championship leader lapped in 1:12.767, half a second quicker than his teammate.

They were briefly split by Felipe Massa, before Alonso found more time on a new set of tyres and closed the gap to Hamilton to 0.122 seconds.

Kimi Raikkonen lost time on his soft tyre run when he locked up while trying to pass Hamilton. He could only manage fourth place.

Giancarlo Fisichella completed the top five for Renault, ahead of Kubica and the two Williams. Kazuki Nakajima had been as high as fourth during the session, before ending the day 0.009 seconds slower than teammate Nico Rosberg.

Pos  Driver        Team                    Time              Laps
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:12.767           27
 2.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:12.889 + 0.122   28
 3.  Massa         Ferrari            (B)  1:13.075 + 0.308   30
 4.  Raikkonen     Ferrari            (B)  1:13.112 + 0.345   30
 5.  Fisichella    Renault            (B)  1:13.549 + 0.782   22
 6.  Kubica        BMW Sauber         (B)  1:13.587 + 0.820   34
 7.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:13.655 + 0.888   33
 8.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:13.664 + 0.897   38
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:13.706 + 0.939   30
10.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber         (B)  1:13.785 + 1.018   44
11.  R.Schumacher  Toyota             (B)  1:13.829 + 1.062   29
12.  Kovalainen    Renault            (B)  1:13.879 + 1.112   28
13.  Barrichello   Honda              (B)  1:13.892 + 1.125   45
14.  Button        Honda              (B)  1:14.095 + 1.328   44
15.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:14.152 + 1.385   33
16.  Trulli        Toyota             (B)  1:14.179 + 1.412   25
17.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:14.409 + 1.642   37
18.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:14.431 + 1.664   27
19.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:14.477 + 1.710   31
20.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:14.543 + 1.776   35
21.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:15.095 + 2.328   35
22.  Yamamoto      Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:15.715 + 2.948   32

All timing unofficial