F1: Malaysian GP - Prac Two: Massa dominates again

[Rory Phoulorie]

Friday 6th April 2007

Ferrari lived up to the pre-race form books, with Felipe Massa dominating the field in the second of Friday's two practice sessions for the Malaysian GP.

Massa, who set the pace earlier in the morning, was the quicker of the two Ferrari drivers in Practice Two, clocking a 1:35.780 to beat Giancarlo Fisichella's best time by 0.130.

However, Massa's P1 time in the afternoon session was three quarters of a second slower than his best time from Practice One. That, though, was most probably due to the increased track temperature, which peaked at a sweltering 51`C as the day wore on.

Practice Two began with a McLaren show as first Lewis Hamilton and then Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets. However, that didn't last long as BMW driver Robert Kubica took the P1 slot.

The Polish driver was able to hold onto it for the next 20 minutes before a charging Kimi Raikkonen hit the front running. The Finn, though, soon out to his team-mate, Felipe Massa, who held the top spot from mid-way through the session to the very end.

Raikkonen looked as if he would have to settle for second place, however, out of nowhere the Renault's of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen displaced him. He finished in fourth place, 0.380 seconds behind his team-mate.

The Williams of Nico Rosberg and Alex Wurz were left to fight for fifth place. The spot eventually went to Rosberg, who clocked a 1:36.523 to beat Wurz by a tenth of a second.

Kubica finished in seventh place, while Ralf Schumacher completed the top eight for Toyota. The German was also the final driver to get within a second of Massa's P1 time, as Lewis Hamilton's best, a 1:36.797, was 0.017s short of the second mark.

Meanwhile Christijan Albers brought out the red flags late in the session when his right-rear tyre blew on the start/finish straight.

The Dutchman parked his car at Turn Two, bringing the session to a temporary halt as there was a lot of debris left on the track from the rear of his carleading into Turn One.

The session restarted with seven minutes on the clock, just enough time for Mark Webber's Renault engine to blow.

The Aussie's Red Bull ground to a halt on the inside of the track exiting Turn Nine with flames licking the back of the car. That brought out the yellow flags and sent Webber off for an early shower.

Webber, though, still managed to finish in 12th place ahead of reigning F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso. The McLaren driver could only manage a 1:37.040 in Practice Two, 1.261 seconds slower than Massa's P1 time.


Times
01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35.780 34 laps
02 G. Fisichella Renault 1:35.910 36 laps
03 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:36.106 37 laps
04 K. R�ikk�nen Ferrari 1:36.160 33 laps
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:36.523 31 laps
06 A. Wurz Williams 1:36.621 21 laps
07 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.717 18 laps
08 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:36.760 28 laps
09 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.797 30 laps
10 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:36.862 25 laps
11 M. Webber Red Bull 1:36.906 18 laps
12 F. Alonso McLaren 1:37.041 26 laps
13 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:37.203 25 laps
14 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:37.282 30 laps
15 J. Button Honda 1:37.578 29 laps
16 J. Trulli Toyota 1:37.712 34 laps
17 V. Liuzzi Toro Rosso 1:37.855 26 laps
18 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:38.334 27 laps
19 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:38.419 28 laps
20 S. Speed Toro Rosso 1:38.650 20 laps
21 R. Barrichello Honda 1:38.713 20 laps
22 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:39.807 23 laps


http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2041385,00.html

[Plex]

Nice...Looking forward to another race..

[Rory Phoulorie]

[Plex]

I find it unfair we paying cable fees and cannot enjoy a live event..