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Enthusiast Groups => Motorsports => Formula One => Topic started by: fasteddy on September 26, 2008, 09:16:09 AM
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By Matt Beer Friday, September 26th 2008, 12:33 GMT
Lewis Hamilton at SingaporeLewis Hamilton emerged fastest for McLaren in the historic first practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix, as Formula One cars took to the track under floodlights for the first time ever.
The Ferraris took second and third, with Felipe Massa just 0.080 seconds behind Hamilton and four tenths of a second ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
Heikki Kovalainen completed the top four in the second McLaren, followed by BMW's Robert Kubica.
Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) and Jenson Button (Honda) had the honour of being the first men to take to the track and the first to set a flying lap respectively, but it was Toyota's Timo Glock and Renault's Fernando Alonso who emerged as the early pace-setters after the opening runs.
The title contenders started cautiously and gradually built up speed, with Hamilton the first of them to hit the front when he lapped in 1:47.160 as the session passed its halfway point.
Alonso briefly got back ahead of Hamilton with his next flying lap, before the Ferraris each took a turn at the top with half an hour remaining.
Hamilton was still finding more time, though, as he edged back ahead of Raikkonen by 0.068 seconds then improved by a further tenth of a second later in his run.
Raikkonen threatened to beat Hamilton in the final two minutes, only to lose time in the final sector, while Hamilton then went quicker still on his last lap and produced a 1:45.518.
Massa then leapt to second, just 0.080 seconds adrift of the McLaren in the closing moments, as Raikkonen chose to abandon what looked like an even quicker final lap.
Behind Raikkonen and Kovalainen, Kubica earned fifth at the end of a spectacular session that included a high-flying trip over the Turn 10 kerbs by the Pole, who then caught a wild sideways slide as his BMW Sauber landed back on the asphalt.
Nico Rosberg was rapid throughout the session and ultimately put his Williams in sixth, ahead of Alonso, BMW's Nick Heidfeld, Nelson Piquet in the second Renault, and Jenson Button - who showed promising form for Honda to complete the top ten.
In this groundbreaking session, Mark Webber had the unhappy distinction of being the first man to crash at the Marina Bay circuit. The Australian carried too much speed into the left-hander headed into the tunnel under the main grandstand, putting his Red Bull-Renault into the barriers on only his fifth lap.
That left Webber at the bottom of the timesheets, and will give his Red Bull Racing team plenty to do in the shortened one-hour gap before second practice - the usual Friday schedule having been compressed for Singapore to ensure maximum after-dark mileage.
Rubens Barrichello also ended the session in the wall, spinning into the barriers at the last turn with 15 minutes to go, although his Honda escaped with relatively little damage.
He wasn't the only driver to get caught out by the final corner. Both Kovalainen and Toyota's Jarno Trulli spun at the same spot, but while Kovalainen quickly resumed, Trulli drove the wrong way down the circuit briefly then turned across the kerbs and into the pitlane, in a manoeuvre that might attract the stewards' attention.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.518 20
2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:45.598 + 0.080 23
3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:45.961 + 0.443 24
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:46.463 + 0.945 20
5. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:46.618 + 1.100 23
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:46.710 + 1.192 25
7. Alonso Renault (B) 1:46.725 + 1.207 29
8. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:46.964 + 1.446 24
9. Piquet Renault (B) 1:47.175 + 1.657 30
10. Button Honda (B) 1:47.277 + 1.759 30
11. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.570 + 2.052 28
12. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:47.662 + 2.144 23
13. Glock Toyota (B) 1:47.706 + 2.188 27
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:48.097 + 2.579 16
15. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:48.517 + 2.999 23
16. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:48.725 + 3.207 19
17. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:48.839 + 3.321 24
18. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:48.906 + 3.388 25
19. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:49.064 + 3.546 29
20. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:53.703 + 8.185 4
All Timing Unofficial
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Alonso quickest in second practice
By Matt Beer Friday, September 26th 2008, 15:06 GMT
Fernando Alonso in SingaporeFernando Alonso sprung a surprise in second practice for the Singapore Grand Prix, beating Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time in the closing seconds of the session.
The Renault driver outpaced the McLaren by 0.098 seconds, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa and McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen third and fourth, and Nico Rosberg impressing again for Williams in fifth.
Hamilton was quickest for the majority of the session, swiftly moving ahead of early pacesetter Rosberg and then chipping away at his time for the next hour and steadily edging further ahead.
Massa, who took a couple of detours down escape roads without damage, usurped the McLaren with 15 minutes remaining, with Hamilton's teammate Kovalainen then pushing the Briton down to third as he lapped just 0.004 seconds slower than Massa.
It didn't take long for Hamilton to respond, though, as he switched to the softer tyres for the last few minutes and lapped in 1:45.752, beating Massa by 0.041 seconds.
Until Alonso's late lap, it looked like Hamilton was set to remain on top. But the Renault produced a 1:45.654 just before the chequered flag, after a spectacular lap on the super-soft tyres.
However Hamilton's practice one benchmark of 1:45.518 would remain the fastest lap of the day - demonstrating how quickly the teams and drivers had got to grips with the circuit, and that the track had offered competitive conditions right from the outset rather than first practice being spent cleaning a dusty surface.
Behind the top four, Rosberg was on the pace throughout the session again and took fifth, ahead of BMW's Robert Kubica. Kimi Raikkonen only managed seventh in the second Ferrari, with Jenson Button also continuing his promising earlier form to take eighth for Honda.
The session was less eventful than opening practice, although Timo Glock lost his Toyota's front wing when he spun into the wall exiting Turn 7 right at the end.
There was also an eyebrow-raising moment at the first corner when Sebastien Bourdais exited the pitlane just as Nick Heidfeld committed to the first turn on a flying lap, causing the Toro Rosso to cut across the inside run-off and the BMW to take to the extra asphalt on the opposite side of the track.
The unusually short one-hour gap between first and second practice almost caught the organisers out, as the session start was delayed by two minutes while Paddock Club guests were cleared from the pitlane.
The unique schedule was also bad news for Mark Webber and Red Bull, denying the team much-needed time to repair the damage sustained in the Australian's earlier crash. Webber finally joined the track with 27 minutes to go, and after initially languishing at the foot of the times, he leapt up to 11th on his last lap.
Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella was also in trouble. The Italian was on the cusp of the top ten at first, only for a gearbox problem to sideline him for the second half of the session, leaving him 17th.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Alonso Renault (B) 1:45.654 30
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.752 + 0.098 28
3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:45.793 + 0.139 31
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.797 + 0.143 31
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:46.164 + 0.510 34
6. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:46.384 + 0.730 36
7. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:46.580 + 0.926 25
8. Button Honda (B) 1:46.901 + 1.247 32
9. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:47.013 + 1.359 32
10. Glock Toyota (B) 1:47.046 + 1.392 22
11. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:47.137 + 1.483 15
12. Piquet Renault (B) 1:47.145 + 1.491 35
13. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.300 + 1.646 33
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.487 + 1.833 24
15. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:47.640 + 1.986 31
16. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:47.760 + 2.106 36
17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:47.965 + 2.311 12
18. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:48.009 + 2.355 25
19. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:48.059 + 2.405 28
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:48.311 + 2.657 36
All Timing Unofficial
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Hamilton: Singapore harder than Monaco
By Pablo Elizalde Friday, September 26th 2008, 17:19 GMT
Lewis Hamilton during practice in SingaporeLewis Hamilton says the Singapore circuit will be twice as demanding as Monte Carlo following Friday's practice sessions.
Like most drivers, Hamilton said the track was very bumpy, but he described it as an "amazing" circuit.
"Through certain corners there was lots of bottoming, and when you hit a bump it would throw the car around quite a bit - but it's an amazing venue," said Hamilton, who finished practice as second fastest.
"On my first proper run, I managed to find a half-decent line - but the car was still bottoming in places. I was able to get more comfortable with the car; on first impressions, there seems to be quite a lot of grip on the track, so you can brake quite late into the slower corners.
"It's a very physical circuit - more than I expected, actually. You need to put a lot of work into the car to get a good lap - I'd say it requires double the energy of Monaco over a single lap. One lap around here is like two laps of Monaco."
Teammate Heikki Kovalainen, fourth quickest today, admitted he was concerned about the pit entry.
"To be honest, racing under the lights wasn't really a problem," he said. "The track was quite bumpy. Perhaps we should also look at the pit entry - it could be quite difficult if a driver decides to pull into the pits at the last minute. However, everything else about the track is fine."