|
With Alex Wurz
setting the fastest time in Friday practice the teams would now have the
final one hours Saturday practice to make their final preparations. Red
Bull's Robert Doornbos was forced to make an engine change and will face a
ten place grid penalty in qualifying. With the start of the session
Monteiro, Doornbos, and Albers would take to the track. Monteiro and
Doornbos would pit after their installation lap. Albers would also pit. Sato
was next out inn what was turning out to be a very quite start to the
session.
 Sato would set the first time of the session, 1m:16.895, as Ralf Schumacher
took to the track. He would be joined by team-mate Trulli and David
Coulthard. Sato's next lap was a 1m:16.443, a small improvement for the
Super Aguri driver. Doornbos would return to the track. Both Toyota's were
on timed laps and Ralf would go fastest with a 1m:15.949. Trulli would move
ahead of his team-mate with a 1m:14.822. Coulthard was now in third followed
by Doornbos. Trulli was on a quicker lap finishing with a 1m:14.388.
Yamamoto was the next driver out on the track.
Ralf would improve with a 1m:14.984 with fifteen minutes of the session
completed. Ralf would improve again this time by a few tenths, 1m:14.733.
Liuzzi was out on the track while Trulli would pit. Coulthard had also come
in. Doornbos was now in third, 1m:15.192. Kubica would be the first of the
BMW Sauber's to leave the pit lane. The second Torro Rosso would also come
out. Ralf and Doornbos had both pitted. Liuzzi's first lap was a slow one,
1m:17.019, to put him in seventh. Kubica would move into fourth with a
1m:15.285.
Kubica's next lap would see him fastest with a 1m:14.200. Speed was in sixth
and Liuzzi seventh. Liuzzi would improve his time with a 1m:15.652 to move
into fifth. Both McLaren's, de la Rosa and Raikkonen, had taken to the
track. They were joined by Michael Schumacher. Liuzzi was now in fourth,
1m:15.027, but team-mate Speed would take this spot with a 1m:14.912. Both
Barrichello and Button had left their pits. Kubica had improved his time
with a 1m:14.005 but Raikkonen would move ahead of the BMW with a 1m:14.003.
But on his first lap Michael would go fastest with a 1m:13.706.
Both Toyota's had come back out as Heidfeld, Massa, and Fisichella would
also come out. We had yet to see either Nico Rosberg or Mark Webber. Michael
would improve with a 1m:13.096 to now be 0.9 ahead of Raikkonen. De la Rosa
was in fifth and Button sixth. Barrichello was in ninth. Nico would be the
first WilliamsF1 driver to take to the track, but he was shortly joined by
Mark. Michael and Raikkonen had both pitted as Alonso was the final driver
to join the session. Button was now in fourth, 1m:14.254, and Massa seventh.
With just over half the session remaining the order was Michael from
Raikkonen, Kubica, Massa, Button, Trulli, Ralf, de la Rosa, Fisichella, and
Heidfeld in tenth.
 Nico was in seventeenth, 1m:15.562, and Mark sixteenth, 1m:15.312. Alonso
was now in sixth, 1m:14.266. Team-mate Fisichella was in eighth. On his next
lap Massa would move ahead of Michael with a time of 1m:13.068. Alonso had
improved to be in fifth, 1m:14.116. Mark was now in seventh, 1m:14.379. Nico
was down in twentieth. Mark would pit while Alonso moved into third,
1m:13.878. Nico would improve to now be in fourteenth, 1m:14.857. Massa
would drop into the 1m:12's with a 1m:12.948, to now be 0.148 ahead of
Michael. Alonso would pit while Kubica returned to the track. The order was
Massa from Michael, Alonso, Raikkonen, Kubica, Button, Mark, Trulli,
Fisichella and Ralf.
But Nico would set a personal best moving ahead of Mark and into seventh
with a 1m:14.302. Nico would pit leaving just six drivers out on the track
with twenty four minutes remaining. Raikkonen would add to this number when
he came back out. While Button was in sixth team-mate Barrichello was down
in seventeenth. Michael was also back out for his next set of laps. Ralf
would improve to now be in sixth, 1m:14.085. Team-mate Trulli was in ninth.
Michael would spin but was able to continue and on his next lap it would be
a quick one going fastest in sector one. Kubica had pitted. Michael would
finish with a time of 1m:12.874. mark was back out with just under twenty
minutes left in the session. Raikkonen would move ahead of Alonso and into
third, 1m:13.866.
But on his first lap out of the pits mark would put in a very quick lap to
move into third, 1m:13.205. Michael would improve with a 1m:12.648 as
Barrichello move into sixth, 1m:13.942. Kimi had pitted. Nico was down in
thirteenth. Michael would again improve his time with a 1m:12.304. But it
was no longer a Ferrari in second it was de la Rosa with a 1m:12.934. Mark
was now in fourth and had pitted. Michael just kept lowering his times. He
now did a 1m:11.925. With fifteen minutes left Michael lead from de la Rosa,
Massa, mark, Alonso, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Coulthard, and tenth
placed Button.
After his set of quick laps Michael would pit as Button moved into sixth. De
la Rosa had improved his time with a 1m:12.780 but Massa would move back
into second with a 1m:12.535. With just over ten minutes left there was only
handful of drivers on the track as the others prepared for their practice
qualification runs. Alonso and Button had pitted. Trulli and Ralf were in
twelfth and thirteenth. Of the top ten only Barrrichello was still out on
the track. Mark would be the first of the top group to return to the track.
Barrichello was able to move into third with a 1m:12.697. Nico was also out
on the track.
Next driver to go faster was Kubica, 1m:12.535. He was now third. With five
minutes remaining the majority of drivers were back out for their final
runs. Nico had improved to now be in eighth, 1m:13.380. Fisichella was now
in fourth, 1m:12.567. Nico had pitted. Both Michael and Massa were still in
their pits. Alonso was in eighth. With just minutes left Michael would come
back out for one final run. He was joined by Massa. Alonso would move into
sixth, 1m:12.721. But Button would split the two Ferrari's moving into
second with a 1m:12.306. Barrichello had pitted, joined by Fisichella. Both
Michael and Massa were on quick laps. mark was now in eleventh and Nico
twelfth. Massa would move ahead of Michael with a 1m:11.443. Mark had pitted
as Michael improved with a 1m:11.631 but remained in second.
With the end of the session the order was Massa from Michael, Button,
Kubica, Fisichella, Barrichello, Alonso, Raikkonen, de la Rosa, and Heidfeld
in tenth. Mark and Nico were in eleventh and twelfth. But the Ferrari's were
very much in a class of their own as the teams prepared for qualifying. |
