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Enthusiast Groups => Motorsports => Formula One => Topic started by: fasteddy on June 05, 2009, 08:57:56 AM
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Courtesy of Autosport
By Simon Strang Friday, June 5th 2009, 12:32 GMT
Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, Turkish GPMcLaren once again proved a factor in the second free practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix, as this time Heikki Kovalainen dominated the timesheets for much of the session.
In a session where the top 16 cars were covered by less than 0.8s, Kovalainen moved to the top of the times a third of the way through.
But not before team-mate Lewis Hamilton - who had been quickest for much of the first session ? and Kazuki Nakajima had enjoyed spells in P1.
Behind the Finn at that point, Fernando Alonso and Robert Kubica were within 0.215s, Nakajima fourth and Sebastian Vettel - who stopped at Turn 2 with a suspected driveshaft problem after half an hour - fifth.
Not much changed in the order during the session as teams worked through their programmes, other than two spins for Hamilton, who topped a long list of drivers that went the wrong side of the kerbs, and Ferrari's drivers complaining that they were not happy on the soft, option, green-walled Bridgestones.
In fact, the softer tyres proved to be slower in general across the board. Alonso bolted on a set with five minutes of the session to go and went quicker in the first sector, but the performance of his lap dropped off through the remaining two.
The double world champion tried again and looked to have stolen the top spot, but lost out to Kovalainen by 0.006s on his last lap.
Kubica remained in third place, bringing some smiles to the BMW garage.
Nakajima ended up fourth, having tripped over Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella in the final chicane following a bizarre incident where neither appeared to give room to the other.
Vettel was fifth, Jarno Trulli sixth, Nico Rosberg seventh and Rubens Barrichello the fastest of the Brawns in eighth.
Mark Webber and Nelson Piquet completed the top ten. Felipe Massa was the fastest Ferrari in 11th, ahead of world championship leader Jenson Button and Hamilton.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:28.841 37
2. Alonso Renault (B) 1:28.847 + 0.006 35
3. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:29.056 + 0.215 35
4. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:29.091 + 0.250 37
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:29.202 + 0.361 4
6. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:29.207 + 0.366 40
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:29.257 + 0.416 40
8. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:29.305 + 0.464 34
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:29.383 + 0.542 39
10. Piquet Renault (B) 1:29.401 + 0.560 38
11. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:29.416 + 0.575 37
12. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:29.430 + 0.589 32
13. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:29.435 + 0.594 31
14. Glock Toyota (B) 1:29.518 + 0.677 40
15. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:29.520 + 0.679 33
16. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:29.550 + 0.709 40
17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:30.081 + 1.240 32
18. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:30.091 + 1.250 37
19. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:30.295 + 1.454 39
20. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:30.629 + 1.788 36
All Timing Unofficial
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McLaren drivers surprised by pace
By Edd Straw Friday, June 5th 2009, 14:55 GMT
Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, Turkish GPHeikki Kovalainen is confident that the aerodynamic modifications introduced by McLaren for the Turkish Grand Prix have improved the team's performance after topping the second free practice session.
The team has introduced some minor tweaks to its floor, which it ran for the first time today and the Finn is confident that McLaren has taken a step forward.
"The most important thing is that the car is working fine," said Kovalainen. "The balance is surprisingly good.
"We've made another step forward so everybody in the team can be pleased about today."
Despite the improvements, Kovalainen warned that getting into the top 10 in qualifying is still a challenge for the McLaren MP4-24.
"I still think it will be a tough fight to get into the top 10 tomorrow. "We'll be trying the maximum overnight so that we can join the fight.
"It's very encouraging that we've made another step forward."
Kovalainen's team-mate, world champion Lewis Hamilton, backed up his impressions, adding that he was surprised by the improvement made.
Hamilton ended the second free practice session in 13th place, less than six-tenths of a second off Kovalainen.
"Before we arrived here, we thought we'd probably have the same sort of pace that we had in Barcelona," said Hamilton. "But it seems we're a little bit faster than anticipated.
"We have a little instability on the ext of some corners, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the pace of the car today."