Formula One news

BMW dominates final practice

BMW dominated final practice at Magny Cours on Saturday morning with Jacques Villeneuve posting the lead time of 1m17.005s. Team mate Heidfeld was second, 0.044s behind while Toyota's Jarno Trulli was third.

It was another hot morning at the Nevers circuit. Air temperature had already climbed to 31 degrees Centigrade and the track was at 46 degrees. 

Twenty minutes into the hour-long session there was a disturbing omen for Michael Schumacher as he pulled into the pit lane and stopped outside the Ferrari garage, only for large flames to shoot up from under the engine cover. Ferrari mechanics extinguished the blaze but Schumacher took no further part in the session. He ended fourteenth. Ferrari's Technical Director Ross Brawn wasn't worried about the fire. "The car got probably overheated which caused the fire coming out of the engine pipes," Brawn said. "We are not worried about the car for qualifying."

Takuma Sato also ha a poor session when his Super Aguri gradually ground to a halt on track with twenty minutes of the session to go.

The final action came in the closing seconds when Fernando Alonso spun under braking for the Adelaide hairpin. The Spaniard recovered without sustaining any damage.

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• 04 Jan.
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• 03 Jan.
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• 02 Jan.
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• 01 Jan.
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• 31 Dec. '08
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• 30 Dec. '08
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• 29 Dec. '08
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• 28 Dec. '08
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• 26 Dec. '08
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• 25 Dec. '08
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• 24 Dec. '08
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• 23 Dec. '08
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