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After four days
of testing at the Jerez circuit the AT&T Williams team was confident that
they were in a better position for achieving a result in the 2008 Hungarian
Grand Prix. Friday practice would get underway with Bridgestone having both
the soft and super soft tyres available. Under sunny conditions
both Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima would take to the track early to
complete their installation lap. They would be joined by several other
drivers including both McLaren's, Renault's, Torro Rosso's, Force India. We
had yet to see either of the Ferrari, Red Bull, or Toyota cars. A large
number of the teams were running with the shark fin engine covers.
After nearly ten minutes of the session run we only had the Ferrari cars yet
to come out. With fifteen minutes of the session run no times had been set.
With the track empty for a considerable amount of time it would be Kubica
who would be first to return to the track with an hour and eight minutes
remaining. But the BMW driver would pit. Not much for the fans to get
excited about. It was funny to hear the circuit commentator say
that "you will see the cars out on the circuit quite a lot today."
With an hour left in the session still no times had been set. Kazuki was in
his pit talking to his engineer, looking relaxed. Barrichello was the next
driver to return to the track. He would be joined by team-mate Button. The
first time would be set by Rubens with a 1m:34.220. Button would go faster
with a 1m:31.657. Barrichello had improved his time with a 1m:33.698. Both
Honda's were on the softer tyre. Barrichello would improve his time by a
considerable margin setting a time of 1m:27.409. Bourdais was next out with
fifty minutes left in the session.
We now had several other drivers coming out, including Kazuki. Neither of
the Ferrari's had come out. Bourdais was now fastest with a 1m:26.708.
Kazuki's first lap would see him in third, 1m:27.604. Raikkonen was out on
the track as Trulli went fastest with a 1m:23.254, followed by Fisichella.
Trulli was on the harder tyre. Bourdais was now third but he would improve
to be in second with a 1m:25.055. Nico had left the pits as Kazuki improved
with a 1m:26.730. Sutil was now fourth and Raikkonen slowest in eighth. But
Kimi would set the quickest time with a 1m:22.032.
Webber was now in third, 1m:23.906. Kazuki was now sixth as Nico started his
first timed lap. Nico's first lap would see him in seventh and Kazuki
eighth. Nico and Kazuki would drop to ninth and tenth as Glock moved into
third and Vettel sixth. With just under forty minutes remaining the order
was Raikkonen followed by Trulli, Glock, Bourdais, Webber, Vettel, Piquet,
Fisichella, Nico, and in tenth Kazuki. Massa had finally left the pits.
Webber would move ahead of Bourdais with a 1m:23.505. Glock was now second
with a 1m:22.738 but Massa would move ahead of the Toyota, 1m:22.725, making it a Ferrari one-two.
Kazuki had pitted while Kubica moved into fourth, 1m:22.767. Piquet was now
in fifth with a 1m:22.943. Nico and Kazuki were now in eleventh and twelfth.
Nico would say that it was very low of grip. The second BMW of Heidfeld was
now in sixth, 1m:23.146. Nico would also pit as Hamilton took to the track
and moved into fifth with a 1m:22.820. He would improve, 1m:22.158, but
remained in fourth behind Glock. Glock was now in second, 1m:22.066, just
0.034 behind Raikkonen. Kovalainen was now sixth, 1m:22.766. Nico and Kazuki
had dropped down the order to be in fifteenth and sixteenth. Piquet and
Kovalainen were fighting over sixth and seventh with Heikki improving with a
1m:22.396 to remain in sixth. Vettel has pulled off the circuit.
Kovalainen was now fastest with a 1m:21.951. Team-mate Hamilton was now in
fifth, 1m:22.158. Alonso would move into the top ten, seventh, with a
1m:22.331. Both Williams drivers had retuned to the track with just over
twenty five minutes left in the session. Raikkonen was also back out as the
Williams drivers dropped down the order to be in seventeenth and nineteenth
positions. Kovalainen and Hamilton had both pitted. With twenty two minutes
remaining the order was Kovalainen followed by Raikkonen, Glock, Massa,
Hamilton, Kubica, Alonso, Piquet, Trulli, and in tenth Button. Coulthard
would move into eighth, 1m:22.700, after spending much of the session in his
pit.
Neither Nico or Kazuki had improved as they continued to circulate around
the circuit. Hamilton's car looked to be a handful as Kazuki pitted. At the
front it would be Massa who would improve to be fastest with a 1m:21.946.
Nico would also pit with just over fifteen minutes remaining. Raikkonen had
also come in with out improving his time. But it would be Hamilton who would
push Massa into second with a 1m:21.535 but just as quickly Massa would
respond taking the top spot with a 1m:21.465. Glock has also improved to now
be in third, 1m:21.931. Massa would go even faster with a 1m:20.981. Nico
and Kazuki remained in the pits still down in eighteenth and nineteenth
positions. Both Williams drivers were over three seconds a lap slower than the fastest time.
Kovalainen was back out as Hamilton and Massa pitted. Massa's stop was brief
and he was back out. Sutil would improve pushing Kazuki to be bottom of the
times. Sutil would improve again to be ahead of Nico, making it both
Williams cars at the bottom of the times with seven minutes left in the
session. Kovalainen had found some time moving into second, 1m:21.410, to be ahead of
team-mate Hamilton. Both Nico and Kazuki were back out on the track with the
pair on the harder tyre option. Alonso would also improve to now be in
fourth with a 1m:21.839. Raikkonen was now in sixth, just behind fifth
placed Glock.
Nico had improved with a 1m:23.476 while Kazuki set a time of 1m:23.641 to
see the pair in seventeenth and eighteenth. Kazuki had run wide but was able
to continue. With the final minutes counting down most drivers were out on
the circuit as Nico improved with a 1m:23.231, to be sixteenth. Everyone was
now out on the track with Massa still fastest from Kovalainen and Hamilton.
Kazuki was now in seventeenth. Despite their lack of pace the Williams
drivers were closely matching each others times.
With the end of the session neither Williams driver had been able to improve.
At the front the order was Massa followed by Raikkonen, who had put in a quick lap right
at the end, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Alonso, Glock, Kubica, Piquet, Heidfeld,
and tenth was Trulli. |