Spanish Practice One: Williams drivers in top ten

The opening Friday practice for the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix would get underway with the normal rush of drivers coming out for their installation lap prior to returning to their pits. Both AT&T Williams drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima were amongst them. Barrichello would be the last driver to take to the track. With an hour and a quarter remaining Fisichella would come back out but would abort the start of his lap after running wide at Turn ten. The BMW team were running with a new front wing, nose and engine cover in order to try and get some pace from their 2009 car. As one would expect, given the fact that the teams have tested at this circuit prior to the season start, that there was little activity on the track. With just over an hour remaining it would be Bourdais and Glock who would leave the pit lane for their first laps.

On the harder tyre Bourdais's first lap would see him set a 1m:29.551. Glock would go faster with a 1m:24.601 only to be beaten by his team-mate Trulli with a 1m:24.475. Nico was next out onto the track joined by Heidfeld. Nico was now fourth with a 1m:25.563 while Buemi was fifth. Trulli was able to lower his time with a 1m:23.479. He was joined by Glock with a 1m:23.924. Nico would improve with a 1m:24.077 to be third while Kazuki had left the pits and had set a 1m:25.211 to be fifth.

On his next lap Nico would move into second, 1m: 23.517. Trulli had been using the softer tyre as Kovalainen moved into eighth, 1m:25.208. With fifty minutes remaining the order was Trulli from Nico, Glock, Webber, Bourdais, Buemi, Kazuki, Kovalainen, Kubica, and Piquet in tenth.

Kazuki would improve with a 1m:23.990 to be fourth. Nico would continue his laps and was able to move to the top of the times with a 1m:23.122. The circuit was very busy with only two drivers yet to set a time. Nico would pit after having lost control of the car under braking for Turn fourteen spinning his FW31. Massa would move into second with a 1m:23.376. On his next lap the Ferrari driver would go to the top of the times with a 1m:22.855. Webber was now third, 1m:23.435 but this would be come fourth as Kazuki moved into second, 1m:23.077. Both Nico and Kazuki were on the harder tyre. Button was down in seventeenth but he would not be expected to stay in this position for long. With forty minutes left Button would move into fourth with a 1m:23.312. Fisichella was now sixth, 1m:23.478. Button and team-mate Barrichello were now in third and fourth. Rubens would improve to be second, 1m:22.859 just 0.004 behind Massa.

Kazuki and Nico were now in fifth and seventh. Vettel would take to the gravel at Turn four returning to the track slowly. Sixth placed Glock was back out on the softer tyre. Button would move to the top with a lap of 1m:22.626 seeing Massa drop to second. Nico was back out with thirty minutes left in the session. Only the McLaren's, Buemi, and Webber were on the track. Glock would also run into the gravel at Turn four. Nico was again running on the harder tyre as Hamilton would improve to tenth with a time of 1m:23.442. Vettel was complaining about understeer in his car. Nico would improve to be second, 1m:22.680, as he continued to put in many laps on the Spanish circuit. Button was still at the top of the times with a 1m:22.626 followed by Nico, Massa, Barrichello, Trulli, Glock,
Kazuki, Bourdais, Hamilton, and Fisichella in tenth. Slowest was Heidfeld. Kazuki's time was a 1m:23.077. Both Brawn cars were out on the circuit with just under twenty minutes remaining.

Both Toyota's were also out on the track as both Nico and Kazuki pitted. Massa was in his pit with his helmet off looking like he would not come back out again. Timo Glock had move up from seventh to fifth with a lap of 1m:22.910, just ahead of team-mate Trulli. Raikkonen was back out testing the teams interim diffuser, he was currently slowest. Trulli would move to the top of the times with a 1m:22.552. He would improve this time with a 1m:22.154, to now be 0.472 ahead of Button. Piquet would improve his time also moving up from seventh to fourth,
1m:22.753. Raikkonen has also put in his best lap of the session, with a 1m:22.873 moving him up to eighth. With five minutes left in the session many of the drivers would return to the track, including both Nico and Kazuki. Nico was currently third while Kazuki was ninth. Massa would come back out for a run in the final minutes.

As the final minutes counted down Trulli, 1m:22.154, was fastest from Button, 1m:22.543, Nico, Piquet, Glock, Massa, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Kazuki, and Hamilton in tenth. Both McLaren's were still in their pits as Kubica improved to be second, 1m:22.221. Vettel would move into tenth seeing Kazuki drop to eleventh. Nico was now fourth as the final laps were started. Nico would have to back off after hitting traffic on his lap. Button was able to put in a time, 1m:21.799, that would see him again fastest. Kazuki and Nico would both improve to be fifth and sixth as the session came to an end. Kazuki's time was a 1m:22.659, to be 0.860 behind Button. Nico's time was a 1m:22.667. Button's quickest time was set on the softer tyre. Another to improve on the softer tyre was Heidfeld moving into fourth, 1m:22.658. Kubica was third.

With the end of the session the order was Button from Trulli, Kubica, Heidfeld, Kazuki, Nico, Piquet, Glock, Massa, and Barrichello. A solid start to the weekend for the AT&T Williams team with both drivers inside the top ten. An encouraging aspect of the session was the fact that Kazuki was able to match the times of his team-mate.

Pos  Driver       Team			    Time      Laps
 1.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B) 1:21.799  21
 2.  Trulli       Toyota                (B) 1:22.154  30
 3.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B) 1:22.221  24
 4.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B) 1:22.658  14
 5.  Nakajima     AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B) 1:22.659  24
 6.  Rosberg      AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B) 1:22.667  26
 7.  Piquet       Renault               (B) 1:22.753  24
 8.  Glock        Toyota                (B) 1:22.828  29
 9.  Massa        Ferrari               (B) 1:22.855  15
10.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B) 1:22.859  24
11.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B) 1:22.873  20
12.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B) 1:22.934  25
13.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B) 1:22.959  24
14.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B) 1:23.077  21
15.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B) 1:23.088  30
16.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B) 1:23.089  25
17.  Alonso       Renault               (B) 1:23.157  18
18.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B) 1:23.185  31
19.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B) 1:23.522  17
20.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B) 1:23.536  19