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| Malaysian GP 5th-8th April 2007 - Friday Free Practice 1.2 Report |
Length: 5.443 km |
| Felipe Massa maintained his strong form in this afternoon's second practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix - although the Brazilian's benchmark 1:35.780 lap was 0.8 seconds slower than his fastest time from first practice.
The Renaults were Massa's nearest rivals on this occasion. Late fast laps from Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen brought the champion team from the midfield to second and third, with Fisichella 0.130 seconds slower than Massa. Kimi Raikkonen was fourth again, just under 0.4 seconds from his teammate. The McLarens were only ninth and 12th this time, with Lewis Hamilton 0.2 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso. They had set the initial pace, as Hamilton usurped initial pace-setter Jarno Trulli after seven minutes. Hamilton's 1:37.323 was beaten almost immediately by his teammate Alonso, who lapped three tenths faster. Alonso also became the second front-runner to be fined for pitlane speeding today - receiving a 600 Euro punishment after being caught at 63km/h in the pits. Five minutes later, BMW's Robert Kubica moved ahead with a 1:36.717 lap, while the Ferraris initially kept a low profile, with Raikkonen only fourth quickest and Massa back in seventh. But as the session neared its halfway point, the Ferraris returned to the track and took charge of the timesheets, with Raikkonen lapping in 1:36.669 before Massa produced his 1:35.780 a few moments later. Williams showed promising speed again, with Nico Rosberg and Alex Wurz fifth and sixth fastest. Rosberg had shaken his first at Raikkonen in the middle of the session after feeling he had been baulked by the Ferrari. The session was interrupted after an hour and a quarter when Christijan Albers' Spyker suffered a dramatic right-rear tyre blow-out under braking for Turn 1. The Dutchman brought the car back under control and pulled off after Turn 2, but six minutes were lost to a red flag while the resultant debris was cleared. Other drivers in trouble included Mark Webber, who stopped on track at Turn 9 immediately after the session was restarted, and Vitantonio Liuzzi, who took a trip through the gravel at Turn 8. |
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