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After seeing
Pastor Maldonado finish fastest in the final Friday practice session the
Williams F1 team would get ready for Saturday practice for the 2012 German
Grand Prix. After a wet Friday Saturday was overcast but dry. This should
allow the team to get in more testing of the available dry compounds, medium
and soft. With the start of the session there would be a rush of drivers
taking to the track. For Williams Pastor would be first out for his
installation lap. Bruno Senna would also leave his pit as the Marussia
worked on Pic's car. Both McLaren's were on the soft tyre as the drivers
returned to their pits after their installation laps. Vergne would set a
1m:24.191 as
Ricciardo went faster with a 1m:23.664. Raikkonen would go fastest,
1m:20.927, with Grosjean second. Hamilton would move into third while
Ricciardo moved back up to second, 1m:22.195.
Hulkenberg was now second, 1m:21.823, but Kobayashi would go second,
1m:21.246. Perez was now third from Hulkenberg and Grosjean. Button was now
fourth, 1m:21.808, but this would become fifth as Hulkenberg moved up to
third. Both Williams drivers were back in their pits as Rosberg went fastest
with a 1m:18.455. Raikkonen was now second from Hulkenberg and Kobayashi.
Hamilton had dropped to eighth, 1m:21.999, but his next lap would see him
move up to sixth. Rosberg would go faster with a 1m:17.971 to be fastest by
2.757 seconds, running on the medium tyre. Both HRT cars were out on the
track with Perez now fifth from Kobayashi, Grosjean, Button, Di Resta, and
Ricciardo in tenth.
Bruno would leave his pit as Rosberg lowered his quickest time with a
1m:17.892. De la Rosa was now seventh, 1m:21.108 as more drivers took to the
track including Webber, Schumacher, and Massa. Webber was on the soft tyre
as Glock went second fastest with a 1m:20.476. Rosberg would again find time
setting a 1m:17.491. Massa was now second with Bruno now third with a
1m:19.856. Vettel was also out on the track with forty five minutes left in
the session. Raikkonen was now fifth followed by De la Rosa, Hulkenberg,
Hamilton, Kobayashi, and Perez tenth. Massa's
time was also set on the medium tyre, like Rosberg. Pastor was now out on
the track as Bruno went fastest in sector one. Bruno would go fastest with a
1m:17.391 while Rosberg had pitted. Bruno was on the soft tyres while
Pastor's first lap was a 1m:21.967 to be nineteenth. Webber would go fastest
with a 1m:17.331 while for Pastor he would set a new quickest time with a
1m:16.940.
Pastor's time was set on the medium tyre. Alonso would take third from Bruno
with a 1m:17.051. Vettel was down in fourteenth, 1m:21.066. Pastor would go
fastest in sector one as Vettel went fastest with a 1m:16.876. Pastor would
respond with a 1m:16.664 to again be fastest. But Vettel was able to go
quicker with a 1m:16.652. Bruno was now in fourth as Webber pitted. Perez
was now in sixth, 1m:17.390, as the track became quite empty as drivers
pitted after their first runs. There were only five cars on the track with
Pastor one of them. Reports now had showers close to
the circuit, ten minutes away. Pastor would pit leaving just Perez on the
track. Bruno had found time with his lap time now a 1m:17.006 prior to
pitting. Perez would move into fourth with a time of 1m:16.968, running on
the medium tyre.
Drivers would start to return with Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Kobayashi, and
Vergne coming out. Button would also leave his pit as Vergne moves up to
ninth, 1m:17.592. Hulkenberg was on a quick lap going fastest in sector two
but he would slow in the final sector remaining sixth. De la Rosa was now
twelfth, 1m:19.778, as Pastor took to the track. More drivers came out
including Bruno. Raikkonen, on the medium tyre, would go third with a
1m:16.903. Kobayashi would improve to be tenth, 1m:17.513, while for Ferrari
Alonso running on the soft tyre would go fastest with a 1m:16.124. Ricciardo
was now fourteenth with a 1m:18.226. Bruno was running on the medium tyre
for his second run. Massa was now fourth, 1m:16.771, with Bruno now eighth.
Di Resta was now tenth with a 1m:17.148. Hamilton was out on the medium tyre
and would set a new fastest time with a 1m:16.091.
Pastor was now fifth and Bruno ninth. Pastor had set a personal best in the
second sector. Vettel was on his first timed lap on the softer tyre and
would go run wide at Turn 1, continuing without any problem. Bruno would
find time and would move up to seventh with a 1m:16.930. Grosjean was now in
twelfth, 1m:17.291, with twenty minutes remaining in the session. Button was
down in twenty second with a 1m:20.914. Pastor would pit currently in sixth
while Bruno was now eighth. Both drivers would drop down one place as Perez
moved into third with a time of
1m:16.202, running on the soft tyre. Webber was fourth followed by Vettel,
Raikkonen, Pastor, Massa, Bruno, and Hulkenberg. Alonso would go back out
and was fastest in sector one.
Bruno was also back in his pit with fifteen minutes remaining. Alonso would
finish his lap setting a 1m:16.014 again running on the soft tyre. With ten
minutes remaining the order was Alonso from Hamilton, Perez, Raikkonen,
Webber, Vettel, Pastor, Massa, Kobayashi, and Bruno tenth. Hamilton was on
the track running with the soft tyre with only Raikkonen the only top ten
driver out on the track. Button was back out on the soft tyre with Bruno
also coming out. Pastor would also come out with just a handful of cars in
their pits. Grosjean would come onto his radio saying that is was raining.
Schumacher would move up to fifteenth with a lap of 1m:17.266. Both Williams
drivers were out on soft tyres. Alonso was out of his car and finished for
the session. Button was now slowest as the track became slippery.
Drivers started to pit with only a few minutes remaining. As the rain
continued to fall the track would empty with Pastor coming in first for
Williams. Bruno would also pit as the track conditions became even more
slippery making it pointless for run any further. Kobayashi would be last to
come back in. A very encouraging session for Williams with both drivers in
the top ten but their performance in qualifying may come down to the lottery
of the weather. It was now pouring at the track as the teams returned all
the gear to their dry pits. With the end of the session Alonso remained
fastest from Hamilton, Perez, Raikkonen, Webber, Vettel, Pastor, Massa,
Kobayashi, and Bruno tenth. It may come down to taking the right tyre at the
right time in qualifying. |
