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The final
practice session for the French Grand Prix produced a disappointing result
for the BMW WilliamsF1
team. Mark and Nick were both outside the top ten with Mark in twelfth and
Nick in fifteenth. Their chances of doing well in this afternoon's
qualifying, based on these times, does not look very good. what is even more
frustrating is that the FW27 is running with further improvements that are
meant to improve its speed.
 With
the drivers having to contend with damp conditions in the first Saturday
practice session most drivers would limit their track time, the Ferrari team
did not even send their cars out on an installation lap. The fourth practice
session was run under similar temperatures.
The first driver to take to the track was McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen. He would
set the first time of the session setting a time of 1m:16.308, with the
conditions improved markedly over the earlier session. He would improve this with a
1m:16.251. Also coming out were Sato, Freisacher, Villeneuve, Button,
Coulthard, and Montoya.
Sato would set a time of 1m:22.110 on his first lap. Others would also set
times with Montoya in second with a 1m:18.605. Sato would improve with a 1m:18.521
to move into second. But Coulthard would take this spot with a time of
1m:18.224. Montoya would improve with a 1m:17.801 to take second. Button was
in fifth with a 1m:18.229, while the Sauber's of Massa and Villeneuve were
seventh and eighth.
Villeneuve would improve to now be in third while Mark Webber was in ninth.
It was all happening as the drivers set times that would see the order change
rapidly. Villeneuve was in second with a 1m:17.716 but Montoya would make it
a McLaren 1-2 with a time of 1m:17.267. As the track improved the times would
come down with Coulthard now in second with a 1m:17.182.
Mark was in eighth with a 1m:18.394. Both Ferrari's, Rubens Barrichello and
Michael Schumacher, had left their garages for the first time today. Montoya
was back in second with Rubens and Michael now in fourth and fifth. Massa would
split the two red cars with a time of 1m:17.476 to go fifth fastest. Klein
was now in fifth with a 1m:17.387 while Alonso had moved into second with a
1m:16.826.
Barrichello would improve to now be in third with a 1m:16.964. Fernando
would improve his time with a 1m:16.393 to close the gap to Kimi. Mark was now
down in fifteenth, while Nick had yet to set a time. Trulli was now in fifth
with twenty five minutes of the session remaining. Ralf Schumacher was in eighth. Trulli
would move into third with a time of 1m:16.792. Michael was in sixth and Coulthard seventh.
Fisichella was in tenth.
 Nick would take to the track joined by Raikkonen. Giancarlo would improve to
now be in fourth with a time of 1m:16.858. Nick's first lap would see him
set a time of 1m:19.704 to be seventeenth. Kimi was out to keep his fastest
lap time as he would lower his time with a 1m:15.483. Alonso and Fisichella
were now in second and third with Trulli fourth.
Mark and Nick were down the order in sixteenth and seventeenth, with both
drivers some 3.0 seconds slower than the quickest time. Both drivers had
failed to set speeds that would see their names listed. Nick would reverse
their order moving ahead of Mark in the times. Ralf was now in seventh, with
brother Michael eighth. Nick was now in fifteenth with fifteen minutes
remaining. Button was in thirteenth.
Trulli was able to get ahead of Fisichella to now be in third, with a time
of 1m:16.498. Ralf would join his Toyota team-mate at the front moving into
fourth with a time of 1m:16.715. Mark was now in fourteenth with both WilliamsF1
drivers struggling to set a competitive time. Montoya was now on a quick lap
and would jump to the top of the times with a 1m:15.223. The McLaren's were
looking very strong. Button was now in ninth. Michael was now in fifth with
Fisichella sixth.
Giancarlo was able to improve to move into third with a 1m:16.102, with ten
minutes remaining. Both WilliamsF1 drivers had only completed nine laps.
With five minutes left their would be the usual flurry of activity as
drivers went for a final quick lap prior to this afternoon's qualifying. The
first to set a quick time was Barrichello who would go fastest with a time
of 1m:15.218. Kimi was on a quick lap and would finish with a time of
1m:14.649 to take back the quickest spot.
But it would be Ralf who would move into first with a time of 1m:14.603.
Alonso was now in third, followed by Rubens, Montoya, and Trulli. Sato was
now in fourth with a time of 1m:15.177. Ralf's time at the top would be
short as Fisichella would go fastest with a time of 1m:14.466. Both Mark and
Nick were on quick laps. Michael was now in fifth. Nick would set a time of
1m:16.372 to be in fifteenth. Mark was now in twelfth with a time of
1m:16.080 as the session came to a close. |
