Montreal: Practice Sessions

Montreal: Practice Sessions

Fernando Alonso - 2007 Canadian Grand PrixFollowing on from their dominant win in Monaco a fortnight ago, McLaren continue their momentum into the Canadian Grand Prix leading the first practice session. Fernando Alonso topped the timing sheets with a lap 0.2s faster than his rookie team mate Lewis Hamilton. The pair of McLaren drivers outpaced Kimi Raikkonen in third, Hamilton lapping the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 0.2s faster. Felipe Massa continued suit by placing his Ferrari in fourth.

The only drama so far was in the BMW garage, with Robert Kubica aborting his first run and returning to the pit lane. Mechanics were ready with fire extinguishers, although it is currently unknown what caused the small blaze. With Montreal’s circuit being a big brake tester, the chances are the Polish driver over-cooked them on the dusty track which led to them igniting.

Toyota have improved with Ralf Schumacher placing himself in eighth and Jarno Trulli in twelfth. Schumacher will be wanting to get a result this weekend, with lots of rumours flying around about his immediate future with the Japanese squad. Interestingly Adrian Sutil and Timo Glock have been mentioned today as potential replacements, but both are being cagey in their responses. It is almost certain though that they have been approached by Toyota. Sutil is tied up at Spyker, but Toyota have the money to buy him from the Dutch team, and Glock is doing well in GP2 at the moment. The saga continues…

Both Super Aguri’s performed well, completely out-pacing the Honda’s again with a tenth for Anthony Davidson and eleventh for Takuma Sato. Jenson Button led the Honda team to thirteenth, while Rubens Barrichello languished in eighteenth.

Practice Session One:

1. Fernando Alonso McLaren 1m17.759s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m17.967s
3. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m18.136s
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m18.167s
5. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m18.301s
6. Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1m18.620s
7. Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m18.634s
8. Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1m18.652s
9. David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1m18.717s
10. Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1m18.896s
11. Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1m18.898s
12. Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m18.925s
13. Jenson Button Honda 1m18.932s
14. Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1m18.997s
15. Alex Wurz Williams 1m19.189s
16. Scott Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m19.234s
17. Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m19.273s
18. Rubens Barrichello Honda 1m19.937s
19. Vitantonio Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m20.331s
20. Christijan Albers Spyker 1m21.251s
21. Adrian Sutil Spyker 1m21.630s
22. Robert Kubica BMW No Time

The second 90 minute practice session saw the McLaren’s continue to dominate the circuit, with Fernando Alonso once again going fastest and shedding 1.2s off his previous lap. Lewis Hamilton could only manage third, with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari edging up the tables to split the Woking squad. Kimi Raikkonen followed in fourth, 0.2s shy of Hamilton’s lap time.

Toyota slipped down the timing sheet, despite the circuit getting quicker with more rubber being laid. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher could only get 16 laps each in, and ended Friday in eighteenth and nineteenth. Anthony Davidson also moved forwards in lap time, but backwards in comparative pace, going from tenth in the first practice to fifteenth in the second. Rubens Barrichello made the biggest gain of the afternoon though, launching himself seventh after 38 tours of the track.

Heikki Kovalainen had a dreadful day which ended in the Finn slamming his R27 into the wall and ending the day at the bottom of the timing sheet. Nick Heidfeld also brushed the wall but managed to escape damage. The German finished in fifth. Heidfeld’s team mate Robert Kubica missed most of the first session due to mechanical problems, and when he eventually got going in round two, spun and clipped a wall at turn 8.

Practice Session Two:

1. Fernando Alonso McLaren 1m16.550s
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m17.090s
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaaren 1m17.307s
4. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m17.515s
5. Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m17.827s
6. Nico Rosberg Williams 1m17.992s
7. Rubens Barrichello Honda 1m18.108s
8. Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1m18.130s
9. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m18.181s
10. Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1m18.309s
11. David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1m18.316s
12. Robert Kubica BMW 1m18.399s
13. Jenson Button Honda 1m18.474s
14. Vitantonio Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m18.493s
15. Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1m18.545s
16. Scott Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m18.602s
17. Alex Wurz Williams 1m18.871s
18. Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m18.895s
19. Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1m19.331s
20. Christijan Albers Spyker 1m19.453s
21. Adrian Sutil Spyker 1m19.662s
22. Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1m20.519s

Formula One, F1, Canadian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso, McLaren

Add comment

Follow BlogF1