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On a sunny day
the Williams F1 team would prepare for the first Thursday practice for the
2013 Monaco Grand Prix. With the Williams team having failed to score a
single point so far this season the team was hoping that Monaco would see a
change in their fortunes. Pirelli had brought their soft and super soft
tyres for this race as the session got underway. First out would be the Sauber's followed
by several other drivers including Valtteri Bottas for Williams. Both
McLaren's had also come out to check the track. The second Williams of
Pastor Maldonado also took to the track as drivers started to pit after
their installation laps. Sutil and both McLaren's would complete two laps as
both Valtteri and Pastor pitted.
Williams had brought several different front wings for the drivers to test.
Pastor was running last years front wing while Valtteri had the new setup.
The last driver to come out was Hamilton while Di Resta had completed three
laps. The track was now empty with ten minutes of the session completed.
First back out was Perez but he would pit without setting a time. With
twenty minutes of the session completed no times had been set. Gutierrez
would be next out and he would complete a timed lap of 1m:29.219, as he was
joined by Ricciardo. Ricciardo would set a 1m:24.466 as Gutierrez improved
with a 1m:24.130 to again be quickest. Hulkenberg, Pic, and Vergne were also
out on the track as both Gutierrez and Ricciardo again improved.
Gutierrez set a 1m:21.984 only to be passed by Ricciardo with a 1m:21.493.
Button and Massa had also left their pits with fifty minutes remaining.
Hulkenberg was third from Pic and Vergne. A 1m:19.77o from Gutierrez and a
1m:19.753 from Ricciardo as drivers continued to find time. For Williams
Valtteri was first out as Raikkonen also come out. Massa goes fastest with a
1m:18.818 while Button was fifth with a 1m:21.423. We also had Rosberg and Alonso taking to the
track as Button moved into fourth with a 1m:19.693. A 1m:19.075 from
Ricciardo to see him second from Gutierrez, Button, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen,
Pic, Vergne, and Valtteri. Valtteri's time was a 1m:25.111. A 1m:17.685
would see Massa improve to remain fastest. Alonso was down in sixth after his first run with Valtteri down in
eleventh but his next lap would see him set a 1m:22.072 to be eighth. Pastor
would join his team-mate out on the track with only four cars still in their
pits. Rosberg would go fastest with a 1m:17.005 from Massa and Button now
third.
Valtteri had improved with a 1m:20.123 but would drop down the times again
being eleventh. Alonso would now go fastest with a 1m:16.842 but Rosberg
would again move ahead with a 1m:16.195 as Alonso also found time with a
1m:16.302 to remain second. Massa was third from Hamilton, Webber,
Raikkonen, Button, Vettel, Gutierrez, and Valtteri tenth with a 1m:19.005. Hamilton would improve to be
third with a time of 1m:16.803. Pastor would move into fourth with a
1m:16.993 while Valtteri had pitted after completing nine laps. Webber and
Vettel were sixth and seventh while Grosjean and Raikkonen were eighth and
ninth. The drivers continued to use the soft tyre with thirty five minutes remaining. Valtteri had
returned to the track after having made a front wing change. He was down in
fourteenth as Perez and Sutil moved into ninth and tenth.
Rosberg and Alonso had both pitted as Grosjean moved into third seeing
Pastor drop to fifth. Di Resta was now ninth with a 1m:17.777 as both
Williams drivers continued to lap the circuit. The track had emptied as
drivers returned to their pits to assess their performances with under
thirty minutes remaining. Valtteri had improved with a 1m:18.830 to be
fourteenth. Di Resta and Sutil were now ninth and eleventh while for
McLaren Perez and Button were tenth and thirteenth. Button would improve
with a time of 1m:17.440 to be eighth. Valtteri would miss the chicane as he
worked hard to learn the circuit. Pastor had pitted followed shortly after
by Valtteri. First and second Rosberg and Alonso were back out with Alonso's
time a 1m:16.282 to be quicker but remains second.
Pastor would return for Williams while for Ferrari Massa would set a new
fastest time in the middle sector to finish with a 1m:16.394 to be third.
Pastor was now sixth and Valtteri sixteenth. With just over ten minutes
remaining the track was again very busy with the Red Bull's of Webber and
Vettel seventh and ninth. Valtteri was also back out as Pastor continued to
run with last years front nose and wing. With five minutes remaining only
the Torro Rosso cars remained in their pits. There was little happening in
terms of improved times with most drivers having put large numbers of laps
on their soft tyres. Pastor would pit briefly as the session drew to a
close. Perez would improve to be ninth with a 1m:17.378. Ricciardo would
return to the track for his final run as Vettel pitted briefly. On quite used times
Grosjean would set a 1m:16.380 to remain third.
With the end of the session it would be Rosberg from Fastest followed by Alonso, Grosjean, Massa,
Hamilton, Pastor, Webber, Button, Perez, and Vettel tenth. Valtteri would
finish in seventh in his first taste of the Monaco track. It was encouraging
to see Pastor back near the front of the times but it is early days and Pastor could improve even more. |
