Brazil 2008: Friday Morning Practice

Yesterday morning (local time) saw the first running of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix as the cars headed out on to the bumpy Interlagos circuit for the first of two Friday practice sessions. The final result after 90 minutes was both championship contenders at the top of the tables, Felipe Massa ahead of Lewis Hamilton by 0.2s. The track was mostly dry, although in places it did become quite slippery due to light drizzle falling over the autodrome.

Both Ferraris ran well and Kimi Raikkonen broke for lunch in a satisfying third, outlapping BMW’s Robert Kubica and McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen. There were no real surprises from the morning session, although both the Scuderia Toro Rossos look a little off-colour, Sebastien Bourdais only getting as high as thirteenth and team mate Sebastian Vettel finishing in seventeenth.

Renault were showing good pace with both cars on Friday, Fernando Alonso completing 25 laps to get into sixth and Nelson Piquet Jr. completing a massive 39 laps to claim eighth. Both Hondas found themselves reaching the dizzy heights of the midfield as well, with Rubens Barrichello lapping less than 0.03s slower than Bourdais and ending up in fourteenth. Jenson Button was just behind in fifteenth and 0.9s down on his team mate.

Brazil 2008: Friday Free Practice One