Practice 1: Hamilton fastest in the heat
2 April, 2010
Apr.2 (YF1) With ambient temperature in Sepang over 30C and the track temperature in the upper thirties, the first practice session of the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend got underway in typical haziness of the area at this time of the year.
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) took a while to get going, but when he did, went to the top of the timing screens with fifty minutes on the clock and there he stayed until the end of the session.
For most of the latter part of the first free practice, Australian GP winner, Jenson Button trailed his McLaren team mate by a quarter second as the two Woking cars hogged the top two positions. However a late flyer saw Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) pop into second, on the timing screens, and split the McLaren’s.
Michael Schumacher made Mercedes power in the top four with the fourth quickest time in a session after spending much time with a hydraulics problem which curtailed his session to 14 laps.
Robert Kubica brought his Melbourne form with him to Malaysia, at least for the opening session, as he ended fifth fastest and best of the Renault powered drivers. Vitaly Petrov was 14th on the final time sheets on a track he knows from his GP2 Asia days.
Fractionally slower than Kubica in sixth was Mark Webber in the Red Bull with team mate Sebastian Vettel ninth quickest.
Seventh fastest was Adrian Sutil (Force India) whose team mate Vitanatonio Liuzzi sitting the first session out as team reserve Paul Di Resta once again got seat time at the expense of a regular driver. Di Resta ended the session 15th fastest.
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari. Formula One World Championship, Rd 3, Malaysian Grand Prix, Practice Day, Sepang, Malaysia,
Fernando Alonso was fastest of the Ferrari p0wered drivers with the eighth best time, with Felipe Massa 11th fastest after a couple of excursions into the Sepang gravel.
Sebastien Buemi rounded up the top ten in his Toro Rosso ahead of his team mate Jaime Alguersuari who ended 13th quickest, despite apparent electric problems.
Lotus gave their Malaysian reserve driver “local hero” Fairuz Fauzy his first taste of Grnad Prix weekend practice in Heikki Kovalainen’s car. The Finn losing a coin toss against Jarno Trulli for tthe dubious prize of having to sit out the first session at Sepang.
The top eight were covered within one second.
Free Practice 1 – 2 April 2010
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:34.921 | 19 | |
| 2 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 1:35.106 | 0.185 | 19 |
| 3 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:35.207 | 0.286 | 25 |
| 4 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 1:35.225 | 0.304 | 14 |
| 5 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1:35.402 | 0.481 | 22 |
| 6 | 6 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:35.479 | 0.558 | 22 |
| 7 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:35.955 | 1.034 | 20 |
| 8 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:35.959 | 1.038 | 20 |
| 9 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:36.043 | 1.122 | 19 |
| 10 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:36.100 | 1.179 | 20 |
| 11 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:36.451 | 1.530 | 22 |
| 12 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:36.503 | 1.582 | 28 |
| 13 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:36.645 | 1.724 | 18 |
| 14 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:36.712 | 1.791 | 9 |
| 15 | 0 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:36.891 | 1.970 | 25 |
| 16 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:36.899 | 1.978 | 24 |
| 17 | 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:37.802 | 2.881 | 27 |
| 18 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:38.278 | 3.357 | 18 |
| 19 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:39.460 | 4.539 | 21 |
| 20 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:39.755 | 4.834 | 17 |
| 21 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:40.159 | 5.238 | 25 |
| 22 | 0 | Fairuz Fauzy | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:40.721 | 5.800 | 19 |
| 23 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1:41.832 | 6.911 | 27 |
| 24 | 20 | Karun Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth | 1:41.966 | 7.045 | 24 |
Related posts:
- Malaysian GP Preview: Must win for Red Bull
- Malaysian GP: Lotus preview
- Barrichello: My team are a bunch of fighters
- Rosberg: Great experience working with Schumi
- Chandhok: We have quite a big gap to bridge
