Tag: FP2

Vettel leads Red Bull 1-2 in second practice

Second practice in India held the same result as the first practice session in India today as Sebastian Vettel again topped the time sheets.

Despite another KERS issue early on in the session, Vettel clocked a time of 1.25.722 with team mate Mark Webber trailing almost three tenths behind him in second place.

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean came closest to the Red Bull drivers but his time was almost half a second off the mark set by Vettel. His team mate Kimi Raikkonen managed only eighth after running wide in turn ten during his fastest flier on the soft tyres.

Pastor Maldonado missed the final 20 minutes of running after a wheel nut came loose. The front right wheel nut on his Williams came off at turn 5 and forced him to stop just before the pit lane entrance. Williams received a large fine for his wheel coming off in Japan and there are fears that the same hefty fine will be imposed again but the wheel remained on his Williams this time around which may just save them from penalty.

There was plenty of wear on the front left tyres with many drivers complaining about the degradation. The soft tyres seem to start going off after about 6 or 7 laps and it seems unlikely that they’ll last longer than 12-15 laps.

For now, Vettel looks dominant in his Red Bull – without or without KERS trouble. It seems the champ is dead set on making it four in a row this weekend.

Here is the full timesheet for second practice:

October 25, 2013
Vettel heads second practice at Suzuka

Sebastian Vettel led the second practice session as several other drivers suffered spins and crashes.

Vettel’s out going team mate Mark Webber made it a Red Bull one-two despite twice being held up by Force Indias. Mark was heard voicing his frustration with the Force India duo over his team radio saying, “These Force Indias are a ******* joke.”

Mercedes, who were quickest in the first session, could only manage the 3rd best time for second practice with Nico Rosberg.

The two Lotus drivers, Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen were next. Raikkonen’s session did however come to an early end during his long run when he spun his Lotus off into a gravel trap at the Dunlop corner and he was unable to rejoin the Suzuka circuit. The Iceman told his time “I got stuck”. Indeed.

Jules Bianchi was unable to participate in the second practice session following his crash in FP1.

Within the first 30 minutes of the second practice session, Pastor Maldonado joined Bianchi on the sidelines as he went off at Denger 2 and became stuck in the gravel trap.

Sergio Perez joined them shortly after after losing control of his McLaren on the way into Spoon and making pretty heavy contact with the barrier.

A good few drivers also lost control but were able to steer away from hitting anyone or anything else.

Below is the full timesheet for the second practice session at Suzuka. Click here to read our report on FP1 and join us for live commentary of FP3 and Qualifying tomorrow on Twitter @F1_Madness.

Photo of Kimi’s beached Lotus posted by David Coulthard on Twitter.

October 11, 2013
Lewis Hamilton makes it two in a row for Friday Free Practice

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes seem to be taking the fight to Red Bull this weekend as Hamilton made it a clean sweep of fastest times in both Friday Free Practice sessions.

Hamilton not only set the fastest times during the free practice sessions, but was also very positive about his tyre life over the longer runs while most other drivers were complaining about high degradation.

During the first free practice session, Hamilton posted a 1.39.630 to beat championship leader Sebastian Vettel by 0.037. In the second free practice session Hamilton seemed to up the ante, posting a 1.38.673 to beat Vettel by 0.108.

Hamilton’s Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg also put in a strong performance during the free practice sessions, finishing FP2 in third only a fraction off Vettel’s time and ahead of Mark Webber in the other Red Bull.

The Ferrari’s were a little further off the pace with Felipe Massa finishing the second free practice session in 5th and Fernando Alonso in 7th place.

Kimi Raikkonen, who crashed during FP1 managed to get straight back out for the second free practice session and complete FP2 in 8th place. Click here to see the video footage of Raikkonen’s accident.

Raikkonen’s back has been an issue but reassurances from his physio are that the Iceman is good to race this weekend.

There were no repeats of Raikkonen’s accident during FP2 but both Charles Pic and Esteban Gutierrez had minor spins and Fernando Alonso also made a little trip on to the grass.

It was a little disappointing to see that there were no spectators out in the Korean grand stands during either free practice session. Such a pity that there is not more support for F1 races in Korea as this is a very interesting circuit that delivers interesting races.

Perhaps the threat of bad weather has kept spectators away but we sincerely hope that there will be more of a crowd for tomorrows FP3, qualifying and the race on Sunday.

Time sheets for both Friday free practice sessions are below.

As always we will have live commentary of FP3, qualifying and the race on Sunday on @F1_Madness. See you then!

FP1 Time sheet:

FP2 Time Sheet:

Photo Credits:

Lewis Hamilton – courtesy of Lewis Hamilton, via Twitter @LewisHamilton

Kimi Raikkonen crash – Lotus F1 Twitter Team

October 4, 2013
F1 Video: FIA Team Principals Press Conference after FP2 Canada

Comments from Ross Brawn and Christian Horner regarding the “secret” Pirelli tyre testing at the Team Principals Press Conference after Free Practice to in Canada. Brawn refused to go into any detail but seemed very confident that once all the facts are revealed at the Tribunal, Mercedes would be cleared of any wrong doing.

June 8, 2013
Spanish F1 Grand Prix FP2 Results

Sebastian Vettel went fastest in FP2 in Barcelona this afternoon ever so slightly ahead of Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. Here is the timesheet for the Spanish F1 Grand Prix FP2 Results.

May 10, 2013