US Grand Prix – practice

June 16, 2007 by
Filed under: Uncategorized 

It’s ony a few days since the Canadian Grand Prix so, as expected, Robert Kubica is not fit to drive. Despite the initial reports of a broken leg, he only suffered mild concussion and a sprained ankle, but he won’t be alowed to race this weekend. “Doctors from governing body the FIA and the Indianapolis track fear another impact could aggravate those injuries.” [source: BBC] This means BMW’s test driver Sebastian Vettel will stand in for this weekend, with Timo Glock as the third driver.

Practice session 1:
Trulli is first to post a quick time – 1:14.376
Toyota teammate Schumacher posts 1:13.819
Hamilton 1:13.411
Raikkonen runs wide into the gravel but recovers
Hamilton 1:12.910
(Vettel 1:12.869 for P3)
Alonso 1:11.925
Fastest drivers: FA, NH, LH, SV, KR, NR, FM, DC (JB=9)
Webber: “a slow and tricky Mickey Mouse track” :)

Practice session 2:
RS first on track; posts 1:16.034
SV 1:14.357
DC 1:13.124
NH runs wide in Turn 1
FA 1:12.719
FM runs a little wide in T11 but keeps it under control
SS sitting at the end of the pit lane – has the Toro Rosso got a problem?
The marshals have to push SS back over the pit exit lane, and then the team can take over
LH 1:12.588
FM 1:12.454
LH straddles a kerb, throwing up some bodywork, but he doesn’t pit
A BMW exits the pits, causing LH to brake in T1 and KR to brake even harder to avoid the back of the McLaren
LH pits – the McLaren mechanics take a good look at the underside and their hand signals suggest he’s broken something :(
LH is out of the car – he’s squatting down to take a look underneath his car as it’s raised to give the mechanics access
AW is struggling down in P21 – that’s not good for Williams
KR’s Ferrari is pushed back down the pit lane and into the garage
LH runs wide as the tail steps out a little – needs a little more rear downforce, I think
MW has exactly the same problem – is it the track (e.g. oil) rather than the cars?
30mins left; FM still fastest with 1:24.454
MW has parked his Red Bull just off track – sounds like transmission problems
FA 1:12.156

Top 6 times:

  1. F.Alonso (McLaren) 1:12.156
  2. L.Hamilton (McLaren) 1:12.309
  3. F.Massa (Ferrari) 1:12.435
  4. K.Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:12.587
  5. N.Heidfeld (BMW) 1:13.026
  6. D.Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:13.042

In fact the top 16 cars covered by just 0.739s!

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3 Comments on US Grand Prix – practice

  1. blog.henman.ca » US Grand Prix - Saturday practice on Sat, 16th Jun 2007 12:24 pm

    2. [...] miscellany and whatever else comes to mind – written by an Englishman in Canada. « US Grand Prix – practice US Grand Prix – Saturday [...]

  2. blog.henman.ca » US Grand Prix - qualifying on Sat, 16th Jun 2007 12:50 pm

    3. [...] in the three practice sessions have all gone to Fernando Alonso, with Heidfeld 2nd quickest on Friday morning, Hamilton in the afternoon, and stand-in Vettel this [...]

  3. blog.henman.ca » US Grand Prix - race on Sun, 17th Jun 2007 12:43 pm

    4. [...] a brief freak out because I couldn’t find race coverage on TSN or Speed, I finally found the TSN/ITV-F1 [...]

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