***Official Spanish GP Thread***

iceman1 · Post by **iceman1** » 11 May 2007, 12:05

Lewis Hamilton led a McLaren one-two in Friday morning practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The McLarens remained a step ahead of Ferrari throughout the session, with Fernando Alonso going fastest on a 1:22.268 with just under an hour to go.

Kimi Raikkonen moved to second shortly afterwards, initially lapping 0.130 seconds slower than the world champion, before closing the gap to 0.023 seconds on his next run.

Hamilton deposed his teammate at the head of the timesheets after an hour, producing a 1:22.265 lap. The rookie then tried the softer compound tyres at the end of the session and improved his advantage to nearly four tenths of a second, lapping in 1:21.880.

Raikkonen had to settle for third behind the McLarens, with BMW's Robert Kubica eventually moving up to fourth ahead of Felipe Massa, who didn't feature in the battle for the fastest time.

Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson continued his run of superb practice times by jumping from the midfield to sixth in the closing minutes.

He was followed by the two Toyotas, who had dominated the opening half-hour of the session and remained fifth and sixth until Kubica and Davidson's late improvements.

Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button completed the top ten, while the Renaults slipped down to 14th and 15th in the final moments having been in the top ten for most of the morning.

The session passed virtually without incident, with Takuma Sato's trip over the kerbs at the revised final corner the only mistake of note.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes ( 1:21.880 22
2. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes ( 1:22.268 + 0.388 21
3. Raikkonen Ferrari ( 1:22.291 + 0.411 19
4. Kubica BMW Sauber ( 1:22.446 + 0.566 21
5. Massa Ferrari ( 1:22.565 + 0.685 15
6. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (1:22.665 + 0.785 21
7. Trulli Toyota (c 1:22.740 + 0.860 28
8. R.Schumacher Toyota ( 1:22.843 + 0.963 23
9. Rosberg Williams-Toyota ( 1:23.048 + 1.168 28
10. Button Honda (1:23.114 + 1.234 22
11. Wurz Williams-Toyota ( 1:23.131 + 1.251 23
12. Heidfeld BMW Sauber ( 1:23.170 + 1.290 26
13. Sato Super Aguri-Honda ( 1:23.316 + 1.436 22
14. Kovalainen Renault ( 1:23.322 + 1.442 24
15. Fisichella Renault ( 1:23.397 + 1.517 21
16. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault ( 1:23.428 + 1.548 21
17. Webber Red Bull-Renault ( 1:23.444 + 1.564 21
18. Barrichello Honda ( 1:23.479 + 1.599 23
19. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari ( 1:23.954 + 2.074 25
20. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari ( 1:24.104 + 2.224 24
21. Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari ( 1:24.179 + 2.299 19
22. Albers Spyker-Ferrari ( 1:24.396 + 2.516 25

Chubbs · Post by **Chubbs** » 11 May 2007, 12:06

theo · Post by **theo** » 11 May 2007, 13:45

s***, ferrari aren;t that good! :?

Super Aguri · Post by **Super Aguri** » 11 May 2007, 15:38

My team ( Super Aguri obviously :P ) did good in FP1 but they all went to sleep in FP2/

Busi · Post by **Busi** » 11 May 2007, 15:54

The Ferraris must have been sandbagging, I just can't believe the McLarens are faster. Or maybe they've found the set-up before than Massa and specially Kimi

tepper · Post by **tepper** » 11 May 2007, 16:06

the new chichane sould add another element of excitement to the GP,we shall see!

dolce · Post by **dolce** » 11 May 2007, 16:31

the new chicane is absolutly nasty...

Chubbs · Post by **Chubbs** » 11 May 2007, 16:33

Spain GP: Friday Free Times - Practice 2

Renaults doing well, nice to see

iceman1 · Post by **iceman1** » 11 May 2007, 16:41

Ok guys over the last 3 GP's practice on friday we were top of the speed trap usually, Today we were nowhere near the top in FP1 at the bottom and in FP2 climbing to the middle, which indicates they are sandbagging probably, looking at what Massa has said we have not tried a low fuel run I don't think. Raikkonen set his time at end of a ten lap stint ( we don't know how much fuel he has in the car) on hard tyres which is fairly good.

[FIN]SpeedFreak · Post by **[FIN]SpeedFreak** » 11 May 2007, 17:43

Chubbs wrote:Spain GP: Friday Free Times - Practice 2

Renaults doing well, nice to see

They was driving light cars, Kovalainen admitted that to Finnish TV.

[FIN]SpeedFreak · Post by **[FIN]SpeedFreak** » 11 May 2007, 17:43

Busi wrote:The Ferraris must have been sandbagging, I just can't believe the McLarens are faster. Or maybe they've found the set-up before than Massa and specially Kimi

Kimi didn't find good setup's and so doesn't Felipe.

megasyxx · Post by **megasyxx** » 11 May 2007, 18:40

Ferrari's no copycats....they're innovators :cheesy:

iceman1 · Post by **iceman1** » 11 May 2007, 18:49

FerrariFan[FIN] wrote:
Busi wrote:The Ferraris must have been sandbagging, I just can't believe the McLarens are faster. Or maybe they've found the set-up before than Massa and specially Kimi
Kimi didn't find good setup's and so doesn't Felipe.

Kimi Raikkonen commented, "Track conditions were very different to those we found when testing here last week and it is definitely more slippery. So, we are struggling a bit to find the right balance of the car. All our work has centred on finding the best race set-up on the car. We will have to study the data carefully to improve, both for qualifying and for Sunday's race."

theo · Post by **theo** » 11 May 2007, 19:45

I hope ferrari will do anything 2morow at qualifications!

Bowsey · Post by **Bowsey** » 12 May 2007, 00:16

Nice to see that the Honda's have improved slightly, (From normal 16-17th positions)