Practice 2: Red Bulls fastest as Alonso chases

5 November, 2010

Sebastian Vettel ended day one fastest of all at Interlagos

Nov.5 (YallaF1.com) Sebastian Vettel ended day one of the Brazilian Grand Prix fastest of all. The Red Bull driver has been fastest in the two sessions on the day, with his team mate and fellow contender Mark Webber not far off the young German’s pace.

Sebastian Vettel finds things very funny

Vettel was the only driver to dip into the 71 seconds bracket, with Webber a mere 0.104 off the pace.

Apart from dominating proceedings on track, the animosity between the two has reached fever pitch among the media that have descended down to Sao Paulo for the showdown.

The tension in the Red Bull pits is palpable, despite Vettel trying his best to lighten the atmosphere with jokes. But as one observer noted the hysterical laughter was a tad too hysterical. You know what we mean….

After a scare in the morning when he pulled over with an apparently blown engine, championship leader Fernando Alonso, was third quickest in his Ferrari, once again the best of the rest although over a quarter second down on the fizzy drinks boys.

Fernando Alonso ended the session third quickest

The engine in the Spaniard’s F60 was at the end of its life and the Maranello team  confirmed before the failure that an engine change before the afternoon session was part of the plan.

But in the second session local hero Felipe Massa stopped out on circuit which has made the opening day in Brazil a trying one for the reds. Ferrari tweeted: “Felipe had a clutch issue but we do not know yet if the cause was hydraulic, electric or something else.”

Nevertheless in the 19 laps he did, almost half of what the top runners managed, Massa ended the session fifth fastest.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth quickest

Splitting the Ferraris, fourth fastest, was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. The Woking squad trying out new bits and setup tweaks until the final minutes in the session. Jenson Button ended seventh on the timing screens.

Sixth fastest was Robert Kubica in the Renault with Nick Heidfeld eighth best ahead of the Mercedes GP duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, ninth and tenth respectively.

The Sauber pair did the most laps with Heidfeld racking up 40 laps and tesam mate Kamui Kobasyashi with 41 laps under his belt and some pretty hair raising moments in the process.

Schumacher was involved in a childish tete-a-tete with Jaime Alguersuari (interestingly almost half the German’s age) when the seven times world champion appeared to brake test the Toro Rosso driver after overtaking him into turn one.

Jarno Trulli was best of the new team drivers in the Lotus.

5 November 2010 – Free Practice 2

Related posts:

1. Practice 1: Vettel top as Red Bulls set pace
2. Practice 2: Vettel tops as Red Bulls look sharp
3. Practice 1: Red Bulls fast as McLaren hurt
4. Practice 2: Vettel top as Red Bulls show pace
5. Practice 2: Vettel fastest from Ferrari duo