WilliamsF1 2nd & 3rd in Saturday 1st Practice

By Andrew Hooper
September 27 2003

	United States GP Saturday 1st Practice
	The opening Saturday practice would see the Toyota F1 drivers first to head out. Minardi's Nicholas Kiesa would spin off at the third turn early in the session. But the biggest surprise would be when Michael Schumacher was to stop in the middle of turn eight. Michael will not be able to use his spare car for this session with the new regulations. Michael was looking very frustrated standing at the side of the track. Reports said that Michael had reported that the car just stopped. It had rained over night removing any built up rubber so the teams will have to start again. With ten minutes of the session run Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella would be the only car out on the track. He would set the first time with a lap of 1m:18.267. Fisichella would be joined by Minardi's Jos Verstappen. The track would start to dry with most teams running intermediate tyres. Jaguar's Mark Webber and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld would take to the track. Heidfeld would go fastest with a time of 1m:17.352. Cristiano da Matta sets a time of 1m:18.156. Team-mate Panis would set the early fastest first sector time, 23.9sec. Juan Pablo Montoya would have a slow start to the day and was seen talking to his WilliamsF1 crew. Panis would move into second position so far in the session with a time of 1m:17.549. With over half the session completed only seven drivers have set a time. Barrichello was in seventh with a time of 1m:31.900. Montoya's fans cheer ever time the big TV screens at the track show their hero, Juan Pablo Montoya. But every time they show Michael Schumacher they boo. So with thirty minutes of the session run the two Renault drivers were the only ones that had not taken the chance to complete and installation lap. Montoya would had out, running on dry tyres, followed by Rubens Barrichello. Montoya would completes the first sector with a time of 25.2 seconds. Now the track was starting to dry further as the sun started to shine. Montoya would set the fourth best time so far in the session as team-mate Ralf would move into second. But the times would quickly come down, with Montoya setting a time of 1m:16.070, which he would quickly pass with a time of 1m:14.121. Ralf would also see his times fall setting a time of 1m:14.532. Montoya would improve his time to a 1m:13.806, while Ralf follows him with a lap time of 1m:13.889. The Williamsf1 drivers were first and second. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello best time so far was a 1m:16.382. Toyota's Cristiano da Matta would move into second with a time of 1m:13.098. But just as quickly the WilliamsF1 pair would lower their times with Juan Pablo setting a time of 1m:12:495 and Ralf a 1m:12.934. Panis would improve to be fourth with a time of 1m:13:548. Only WilliamsF1, Jaguar, and Ferrari weer using the session to try and gain some valuable information in the damp conditions. Both Renault's drivers would take to the track with Jarno Trulli, on his third lap, setting the quickest time with a lap of 1m:12.408. Alonso would move into fourth with a time of 1m:12:741. Rubens would move into third with a time of 1m:12:510. Ralf was now down in fourth. Neither McLaren driver had set a time as the session moved to a close. Ralf was able to move into second in the dying moments of the session with a time of 1m:12:468. So with the session ending it would again be Jarno Trulli who would be at the top of the times. But in second and third it would be the WilliamsF1 drivers of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya.
	P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Times Ave/Gaps Laps 1. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'12"408 208.419 Km/h 6 2. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'12"468 + 0'00"060 15 3. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'12"495 + 0'00"087 15 4. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'12"510 + 0'00"102 14 5. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'12"741 + 0'00"333 6 6. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'13"098 + 0'00"690 17 7. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'13"306 + 0'00"898 10 8. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'13"363 + 0'00"955 7 9. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'13"573 + 0'01"165 14 10. 15 WILSON Jaguar Cosworth M 1'13"781 + 0'01"373 8 11. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'13"960 + 0'01"552 7 12. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'14"411 + 0'02"003 7 13. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'14"439 + 0'02"031 6 14. 18 KIESA Minardi Cosworth B 1'14"493 + 0'02"085 7 15. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'14"911 + 0'02"503 6 16. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'18"267 + 0'05"859 4 17. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'29"900 + 0'17"492 3