Formula One news
Williams fastest in second practice
08 May 2009 / Results / PhotosThe Williams duo of Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima topped the final timesheets in Spain on Friday. Although the English cars circulated quickest in Barcelona, most drivers' best efforts were thwarted as Rosberg ground to a halt in the dying seconds of the session. Fernando Alonso raised cheers from his home crowd with third place for Renault.
As the morning Catalan temperatures of 20°C (68°F) translated to 24°C (75°F) in the afternoon, Rosberg continued his record of fastest practice times and has now headed nine of the fourteen sessions so far this year. His best effort of 1.21.588 could not be matched by second-placed team-mate Kazuki Nakajima and was ensured when stopping in the final moments; with the engine still spinning, Nico pulled onto the grass on the inside of Turn 10 to bring out the yellow flags and halt the progress of the other drivers in the process.
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| Second-placed Nakajima spins his Williams at the chicane |
Behind Williams and Alonso were the first Brawn and Red Bull cars with Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber, closely followed by team-mates Button and Vettel. Nelson Piquet showed another strong performance with eighth place despite two offs during the session which did not go down well with team principal Flavio Briatore, who was seen shaking his head on the pit wall.
Sébastien Buemi also had a dramatic afternoon; although he eventually set an impressive ninth fastest time, the Swiss driver's first run came to an end at Turn 2 when his rear brakes caught fire. On a track with few heavy braking points and with the problem occurring on only Buemi's out-lap, the surprise incident is being investigated by the Toro Rosso team.
Kimi Räikkönen was the lead Ferrari in tenth, Bourdais in the second Toro Rosso was 11th and Giancarlo Fisichella completed a positive session in the top twelve. The McLarens of Hamilton and Kovalainen were 1.2 seconds off the leading pace in 13th and 14th places ahead of Massa's Ferrari and the two BMWs of Kubica and Heidfeld.
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| In terms of corporate guests, the Spanish Grand Prix is one of the busiest of them all |
The two Toyotas completed a mammoth total of 93 laps as the team focussed on race strategy, although Glock and Trulli's final runs were spoilt by the yellow flags for Rosberg's stoppage. Adrian Sutil did not leave the pits as a six hour job keeps his mechanics busy in the Force India garage.
You can follow the progress of final practice on GPUpdate.net tomorrow, which proceeds the all-important qualifying session for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
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