Silverstone 2009: Friday Practice Two

Silverstone 2009: Friday Practice Two

I promise you, there has been some on-track action today, with both free practice sessions having been completed at Northamptonshire’s Silverstone circuit. While the news of the day has been centred on the political wranglings, Sebastian Vettel has been driving well and managed to out-pace his team mate for the second session and post another fastest lap. The surprise of the afternoon was Adrian Sutil though, who went P3 in the Force India, which is impressive considering his more experienced team mate is languishing down in P19.

The wind picked up after lunch and was causing havoc with the balance of the cars. Many drivers had moments, particularly under braking to Stowe when the drivers attempt to control the car decelerating from the fast Hangar Straight into the moderately fast right-hander. There were also a few spits of rain during the lunch break, but this did little to upset the cars.

Like in the morning session, Red Bull Racing looked strong and were again comfortably the fastest, Vettel posting a lap 0.1s up on his team mate Mark Webber, who was a leisurely 0.7s clear of the Force India in P3.

Adrian Sutil drove well (until he collided with Fisichella’s car in the pitlane at the end of the afternoon) and posted his quick lap early on. The improvements made to the VJM-02 car are clearly working well, but it remains to be seen if the local team can carry this pace through Saturday and into Sunday. Of course, thoughts cannot help but turn to maiden points for Vijay Mallya’s team, particularly as the team’s factory is just over the road from the circuit.

Not performing as well as expected are Ferrari. Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen languish in P17 and P18 respectively. Also slipping a little were Toyota and Brawn. Rubens Barrichello managed to semi-respectable P6, but Silverstone favourite Jenson Button ended his day in P14.

Robert Kubica had a swiftly executed engine change after low oil pressure readings were noted and Nelson Piquet improved himself considerably after the break, going from P18 and 1m21.525s to P10 and 1m20.608s. Kazuki Nakajima also enjoyed the afternoon more, finishing in P4 and improving his time by 1.5s.

Silverstone 2009
Friday Free Practice Two

Lap Time
Fastest Time Set

Laps Set
Number Laps Set

1. German FlagSebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m19.456s 39 Laps
2. Australian FlagMark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m19.597s 35 Laps
3. German FlagAdrian Sutil Force India 1m20.141s 41 Laps
4. Japanese FlagKazuki Nakajima Williams 1m20.209s 36 Laps
5. Spanish FlagFernando Alonso Renault 1m20.237s 36 Laps
6. Brazilian FlagRubens Barrichello Brawn 1m20.244s 26 Laps
7. British FlagLewis Hamilton McLaren 1m20.417s 35 Laps
8. Italian FlagJarno Trulli Toyota 1m20.458s 40 Laps
9. German FlagNico Rosberg Williams 1m20.468s 42 Laps
10. Brazilian FlagNelson Piquet Jr. Renault 1m20.608s 37 Laps
11. Polish FlagRobert Kubica BMW 1m20.622s 23 Laps
12. Finnish FlagHeikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m20.733s 37 Laps
13. German FlagTimo Glock Toyota 1m20.762s 37 Laps
14. British FlagJenson Button Brawn 1m20.767s 28 Laps
15. German FlagNick Heidfeld BMW 1m20.932s 35 Laps
16. French FlagSebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m20.945s 36 Laps
17. Brazilian FlagFelipe Massa Ferrari 1m21.005s 37 Laps
18. Finnish FlagKimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m21.132s 38 Laps
19. Italian FlagGiancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m21.413s 40 Laps
20. Swiss FlagSebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m21.668s 37 Laps

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