Formula One news

Heidfeld fastest in final free practice

BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld completed this morning's fastest lap at Spa-Francorchamps. The German completed seventeen laps to finish ahead of Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil. The Red Bull of Mark Webber missed most of the session due to an engine problem.

Saturday morning's one hour practice session started with temperatures as low as 12°C (54°F). Those drivers who were able to make an appearance on track used the period to finalise preperations ahead of today's qualifying session.

At Force India, confidence levels are likely to be rising. Both Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella were found in top ten for most of the session; at its conclusions, the German and Italian ended third and eighth respectively - the team will aim for Q2 again this afternoon.

At Red Bull Racing the team is probably becoming worried about their engines' reliability. The Milton Keynes team, using Renault powerplants, changed Sebastian Vettel's unit twice last weekend in Valencia and this time it is Mark Webber who faces trouble; the Australian's engine problems at Spa caused him to watch free practice from his pit box, meaning the team has the job of changing the part between practice and qualifying.

McLaren World Champion Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets for half of the session but eventually slipped down to ninth. Of the championship-leading Brawn GP drivers, England's Jenson Button was the fastest man this morning by rounding out the top ten.

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