Formula 1
SPANISH GRAND PRIX FRIDAY PRACTICE …
Vettel beat Fernando Alonso to the P1 in Friday’s second practice for the Spanish GP.
CAR 1, SEBASTIAN VETTEL
First Practice Session: Position: 19, Best Time: 1:29.457, Laps: 11
Second Practice Session: Position: 1, Best Time: 1:22.808, Laps: 34
“We have some new parts here but the days of big, big upgrades don’t really happen now with the regulations how they are. This afternoon was fairly conclusive, but this morning wasn’t really much good with the weather. It’s hard to say much about the harder tyre, I think the number of pit stops will be the same here in this race as at the last few.”
CAR 2, MARK WEBBER
First Practice Session: Position: 20, Best Time: 1:29.473, Laps: 21
Second Practice Session: Position: 3, Best Time: 1:22.891, Laps: 36
“It looks reasonably tight. We couldn’t have got more out of it today really, the weather made things a bit tricky, but it was a pretty good day overall. We had a few things to test this morning which we had to move to the afternoon when the weather was better – but it was okay. We still have work to do tonight. It’s a nice grand prix to come to – one of the most popular of the year.”
AND FINALLY
After the serious business of the day, here are five fast facts from Seb:
Sebastian Vettel’s Top 5… Tracks he’d like to race on:
1. Watkins Glen – Because I’ve heard lots of good things about it, as in it’s a proper circuit, with lots of ups and down and loads of history. F1 used to go there but not any more, so I’d like to try that.
2. Le Mans – I’ve been around there in Formula 3 but only a smaller track. I think it would be quite special to go around there in a real Le Mans prototype.
3. Laguna Seca – I’ve been there, but not in a race car – just a road car. It was still quite impressive though, so that might be a challenge.
4. The original Spa-Francorchamps – that would have been something. I think that was a proper man’s track, with lots of high-speed corners. I can’t imagine going through the Masta Kink in a modern Formula One car.
5. The Norsdschleife – It just has to be there. I have done a couple of laps but I don’t remember most of the corners. It’s long and probably too tough for a modern Formula One car, because they’re too low. But even in a road car it’s special. I think you need big balls for the Fuchsröhre, the part where it goes downhill. You just stay flat and accelerate. You’re way above 200km/h and then you have this massive compression at the bottom and then you go uphill again and it’s just…. wow! Imagine doing that in a proper car in a 24-hour race, flat out through there at night. Amazing.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m22.808s 34
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m22.825s + 0.017s 35
3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m22.891s + 0.083s 36
4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m23.030s + 0.222s 32
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m23.110s + 0.302s 37
6. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m23.140s + 0.332s 35
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.398s + 0.590s 45
8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m23.840s + 1.032s 37
9. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m24.058s + 1.250s 31
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m24.104s + 1.296s 25
11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m24.175s + 1.367s 32
12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.306s + 1.498s 35
13. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.854s + 2.046s 31
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m24.888s + 2.080s 38
15. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.167s + 2.359s 38
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m25.321s + 2.513s 32
17. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.441s + 2.633s 37
18. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m25.851s + 3.043s 35
19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m25.963s + 3.155s 30
20. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m26.078s + 3.270s 31
21. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m26.930s + 4.122s 35
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m26.970s + 4.162s 25