Formula One news
Kovalainen tops first Hungarian practice
24 July 2009 / Results / PhotosHeikki Kovalainen and McLaren have finished fastest in the first practice session at the Hungaroring. The Finn produced a last-gasp lap to move to the top of the timesheets from Nico Rosberg's Williams and the second McLaren of World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Championship leader Jenson Button finished tenth.
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| Heikki Kovalainen won the Hungarian Grand Prix last year |
With the halfway point in the 2009 championship having been passed during the German Grand Prix, this weekend's race in Budapest will be vital in discovering which of the leading teams possesses an edge; Brawn GP, current leaders in both the Drivers' and Constructors' race, are introducing a new aerodynamics package at the Hungaroring and hope to be quicker in the warmer temperatures than those of Silverstone or the Nürburgring.
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| Giancarlo Fisichella walked the track on Thursday afternoon |
With ambient temperatures reaching highs of 26°C (79°F) and the track at 39°C (102°F), surface temperatures reached the highest recorded of the season so far. With Lewis Hamilton having challenged the top spot for much of the morning, Kovalainen's last lap of 1.22.278 was the best of the session, edging out Nico Rosberg by only 59 thousandths of a second. The Champion was demoted to third with Mark Webber, who headed the listings for most of the session, eventually fourth and the leading championship contender.
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| Nelson Piquet is trying his upmost to prolong his son's F1 career |
Despite Webber's fourth best time, Red Bull struggled to a degree with their tyres as Sebastian Vettel in particular found building up temperatures to be difficult whilst suffering with a loss of grip; the German wound up in only 15th position. Brawn fared better than the second Red Bull but languished in 10th with championship leader Button and 13th with Rubens Barrichello, despite the updates and the higher temperatures which should suit the BGP 001 better, having struggled to build up tyre temperatures in the last two races.
Kazuki Nakajima confirmed two Williams cars in the top five - on a weekend which the Grove outfit hopes for a podium result - as Jarno Trulli and Kimi Räikkönen set their teams' best laps. Felipe Massa finished eighth in the second Ferrari with Fernando Alonso and Button's results meaning seven different teams placed in the top ten positions.
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| Alguersuari finished with two seconds of the top time |
Spanish newcomer Jaime Alguersuari replaced Sébastien Bourdais at Toro Rosso for the first time; the reigning British Formula 3 Champion, who is the youngest driver to ever compete in F1 - aged 19 - wound up in 20th position but with a respectable time of 1.24.228, within two seconds of the leading time (having never driven an F1 car on a circuit before) and only two tenths down on Swiss team-mate Buemi.
The second 90-minute practice session at the Hungaroring commences at 2pm local time (BST +1 / GMT +2).
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