Difficult opening Spanish practice for Williams

The opening Friday practice for the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix would see the usual rush of drivers take to the circuit for their installation lap. The only drivers not to come out were the two Ferrari's. But with all the teams having spent four days last week testing at the Circuit de Catalunya there would be little activity on the track for a considerable period of time.

With twenty five minutes of the session run it would be Kazuki Nakajima who would take to the track first. Kazuki would be on the harder Bridgestone tyre. The other tyre for the weekend is a medium option. He would be joined by Nico and Kovalainen. Kazuki would set the first time with a 1m:24.389. Kovalainen would move ahead of Kazuki with a 1m:22.471. Hamilton had joined his team-mate out on the track. Kazuki would improve with a 1m:23.797.

Kovalainen's next lap would see a 1m:21.778. Kazuki would improve again with a 1m:23.525 but was 1.7 seconds behind the McLaren. On his first lap Hamilton would move to the top of the times with a 1m:21.484. Nico had yet to set a time while Trulli left the pit lane. Kazuki would cut a few tenths off his time with a 1m:23.261. Kovalainen would pit while Nico set his first time with a 1m:23.933. Kazuki would pit. Trulli's first lap would see him move into third, 1m:23.151, behind the two McLaren's.

Other drivers would also take to the track with under fifty five minutes remaining, Heidfeld and Glock. Trulli would spin while team-mate Glock would move into fifth, 1m:23.616. Hamilton would improve with a 1m:21.192. Nico had pitted but was some 2.4 seconds off the pace. Heidfeld was now third, 1m:22.563. Kubica and Piquet were next out. In his pit Kazuki would complain that his traction was quite poor. Kubica was now third ahead of Heidfeld, 1m:22.268. Fifth and sixth were Glock and Trulli, After making adjustments Kazuki would return to the track. Coulthard was also out.

Raikkonen was also out and his first lap would see a 1m:21.320 that would see him second. Nico was also back out on the track. Raikkonen would move to the top of the times with a 1m:20.997. Piquet was now in fourth, 1m:21.936. Raikkonen would improve with a 1m:20.649, while Massa would spin his car but was able to continue. Nico was out again looking to improve from his thirteenth. Kazuki was twelfth. Massa was able to turn things around moving into second, 1m:20.937. He would improve with a 1m:20.699. Alonso was out on the track and would move into ninth. Coulthard was in sixth. Both Williams drivers had returned to the track, with Kazuki and Nico fifteenth and seventeenth.

Nico would improve to now be in tenth, 1m:22.838. Kazuki was now in sixteenth. At the front it was Raikkonen from Massa, Hamilton, Kovalainen, Alonso, Piquet, Kubica, Coulthard, Heidfeld and in tenth Nico. Nico was still on the harder tyre. Hamilton was back out on the track with fifteen minutes remaining. With five minutes left Nico had slipped down to eighteenth. Kazuki was still in sixteenth. On his next lap Nico was able to move into twelfth, 1,:23.003. Kazuki was also back out on the track. Kubica had improved to be in fourth.

Raikkonen was back out for one final run with just minutes left in the session. Nico was now in twelfth and Kazuki had improved to be fifteenth, 1m:23.153. The session would end with Raikkonen still fastest from Massa, Hamilton, Kubica, Kovalainen, Alonso, Piquet, Coulthard, Heidfeld, and in tenth Button. Nico and Kazuki would finish in twelfth and fifteenth. But both drivers were over two seconds behind the pace setters, a massive margin by anyone standards.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time     Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:20.649  17
 2.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1:20.699  9
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:21.192  20
 4.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:21.568  20
 5.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:21.758  10
 6.  Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:21.933  18
 7.  Piquet        Renault              (B)  1:21.936  21
 8.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:22.118  20
 9.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:22.278  24
10.  Button        Honda                (B)  1:22.632  16
11.  Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:23.002  21
12.  Rosberg       AT&T Williams-Toyota (B)  1:23.003  25
13.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:23.015  14
14.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:23.141  15
15.  Nakajima      AT&T Williams-Toyota (B)  1:23.153  24
16.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari  (B)  1:23.156  22
17.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari  (B)  1:23.196  20
18.  Barrichello   Honda                (B)  1:23.353  14
19.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:23.952  15
20.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:24.082  15
21.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  1:24.278  14
22.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  1:25.068  10