Posted on June 5th, 2009 by Oliver White
Heikki Kovalainen managed to top the second free practice session of the Turkish Grand Prix weekend, steering his McLaren MP4-24 around the Istanbul Park circuit in a time 0.006s faster than second placed driver Fernando Alonso. Once again, Brawn did not feature in the top few positions, although Jarno Trulli kept himself in the mix with P6 and Robert Kubica showed some serious improvement to finish in P3. Continue Reading
Posted on June 5th, 2009 by Oliver White
Nico Rosberg of Williams topped the first free practice around Turkey’s Istanbul Park circuit earlier today, setting a lap time 0.3s faster than nearest rival Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren. Hamilton had been in the top spot as the 90 minute session drew to a close, but in a last second attempt, Rosberg managed to clinch the fastest time, demoting the reigning world champion to P2. Jarno Trulli went into P3 in the Toyota while the Brawns were back in P9 and P11. Continue Reading
Posted on May 8th, 2009 by Oliver White
A busy second practice session at Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya has resulted in the Williams duo leading the rest of the pack, Nico Rosberg reclaiming his spot ahead of team mate Kazuki Nakajima. Nico Rosberg ended his afternoon by pulling over to the side of the track with a mechanical issue on his final run, but the fastest time had already been set. Fernando Alonso improved dramatically in the R29 and finished in third, 0.2s shy of the Williams pace. Continue Reading
Posted on May 8th, 2009 by Oliver White
The first of two practice sessions at Circuit de Catalunya has seen some interesting times set as most of the cars ran with updates for the first time. As mentioned earlier in the week, these sessions will be important to the teams as they all try to gain the most from their aerodynamic tweaks, made even harder by the ban on in-season testing. Needless to say, most drivers set a few more laps than normal and the order is a little mixed. Continue Reading
Posted on April 24th, 2009 by Oliver White
Nico Rosberg ended Friday’s running at the top of the tables, completing 36 laps on his way to a time 0.2s clear of second fastest driver Fernando Alonso. The Williams pilot has been impressing in Free Practice sessions all season, but this is not an indicator of race pace as Rosberg tends to gradually lose touch with the front runners as the weekend progresses. The Toyotas returned to form in the second session as well, having not done particularly well in the morning. Jarno Trulli finished in P3 while Timo Glock ended his day in P8. Continue Reading
Posted on April 24th, 2009 by Oliver White
Round four of the 2009 Formula One World Championship got underway earlier today with the first practice session at the Sakhir circuit. Like in Shanghai last weekend, the McLarens are showing revitalised pace with Lewis Hamilton going fastest and team mate Heikki Kovalainen breaking for lunch in sixth. The Williams of Nico Rosberg was high up the order as well, as were the Brawns and BMWs. Even the Ferraris managed to get both cars into the top ten. Continue Reading
Posted on April 17th, 2009 by Oliver White
Following the surprising upturn in form from the McLaren in the first practice, Lewis Hamilton would find his fortune fade after lunch as the reigning world champion went from the top of the timing sheet down to P13. Instead, both Brawns came alive and dominated around the Shanghai circuit, and Nico Rosberg once again shone in the Williams FW31. Sebastian Vettel joined his team mate Mark Webber at the sharp end of the lap times and both Toyotas continued to run well. Continue Reading
Posted on April 17th, 2009 by Oliver White
Running has begun in Shanghai for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. Now that the diffuser issue has been settled we can return to racing and although there is the possibility of further sanctions against McLaren, it hasn’t stopped them or slowed them down. Lewis Hamilton headed the tables after the first 90 minute session, and team mate Heikki Kovalainen wasn’t far behind in fourth. the Woking team are running an interim ‘double diffuser’. Continue Reading
Posted on April 3rd, 2009 by Oliver White
After all the troubles surrounding the result of the Australian Grand Prix, it is nice once again to get stuck into the another race, this time in Malaysia at the Sepang circuit. With drivers voicing concerns about racing in the evening and the possibility of rain, the Malaysian Grand Prix is set to be very exciting. And this morning, Williams once again proved the pace of the FW31, just as they did in Melbourne last Friday. Continue Reading
Posted on March 27th, 2009 by Oliver White
After a surprising first practice where Nico Rosberg clinched the top spot in style, one could have been forgiven for thinking that it was just a headline-grabbing one-off lap. However, the young Williams pilot proved that the FW31 has some decent pace; Rosberg went to the top of the class yet again. Rosberg’s fastest lap, that bettered his effort in the first practice by over 0.6s, was impressive to say the least. And once again, Nakajima didn’t look too shabby either, improving his FP1 time and only lapping 0.5s shy of his team mate. Continue Reading