Alonso leads rain-hit third day

[fasteddy]

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, August 30th 2007, 16:35 GMT


Fernando Alonso topped the times during a rain-hit third day of testing at Monza on Thursday.

Overnight rain showers and big storms throughout the morning meant that there was little running before lunchtime.

The sunshine finally broke through early in the afternoon, though, eventually fully drying the track to allow just over two hours of dry running late on.

Alonso's best time of 1:23.490 was almost one second faster than BMW's Robert Kubica, who stopped on track with a mechanical problem in the final hour, with David Coulthard third quickest.

Felipe Massa ended up fourth for Ferrari, but his day ended on a low note when his car stopped in the pits just short of the garage right at the end of the day.

Vitantonio Liuzzi showed some strong form from Scuderia Toro Rosso to set the fifth best time, ahead of Jenson Button's Honda, Nico Rosberg's Williams and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Renault.

Sakon Yamamoto continued to put valuable mileage on Spyker's new B-spec car, but brought the red flags out twice when he stopped at 3pm and 4.30pm.

The wet weather means that a number of teams will stay at Monza for another day to try and maximize their dry running ahead of next week's Italian Grand Prix.

Pos  Driver        Car                      Time      Laps
 1.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:23.490   51
 2.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber          (B)  1:24.413   48
 3.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:24.453   52
 4.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:24.525   49
 5.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:24.768   40
 6.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:24.918   61
 7.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:24.983   45
 8.  Fisichella    Renault             (B)  1:25.069   71
 9.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  1:26.175   72
10.  Yamamoto      Spyker-Ferrari      (B)  1:26.384   72
11.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:35.106   47

[fasteddy]

McLaren not underestimating Ferrari

By Jonathan Noble Friday, August 31st 2007, 10:57 GMT


McLaren are not taking the threat of title rivals Ferrari lightly ahead of next weekend's Italian Grand Prix, despite the fact that they lead both world championships.

Lewis Hamilton is 15 points clear of nearest Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, while McLaren have an 11 points margin over Ferrari - and could win 15 more if their appeal against their Hungary penalty is successful next month.

But despite their position at the head of the field, the team admit that there is still everything to play for in the fight for both championships.

Martin Whitmarsh, the team's F1 CEO, said: "Whilst we are arriving in Monza leading both championships, we are more than aware they are both still very open.

"There are a lot of points to be won over the next six weeks and the determination within Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to take as many as possible is massive.

"Monza is very individual in terms of characteristics and with this in mind, the test this week has enabled the successful proving process of a number of key components and we are feeling cautiously optimistic going into this race."

With the high-speed Italian and Belgian Grands Prix back-to-back, there is going to be a great focus on the work of the engine departments at the two teams fighting for the title over the next fortnight.

In fact, Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug thinks that the challenge of getting through the next two races with one power unit is the greatest the manufacturers have faced since the V8s raced for the first time last year.

He said: "At around 80 percent, Monza has the highest full-throttle proportion per lap of all Formula One racetracks. However, the following race (Spa) will challenge the engines even more.

"As scheduled, we will start in Monza with a new engine in both cars, which, according to the rules, is designed to be used in Spa as well.

"The combination of these two circuits is the highest expected strain for an engine so far since the new V8 engine generation has been introduced last year."