WilliamsF1 off the pace after 1st Spanish practice


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By Andrew Hooper
May 7 2004

Both WilliamsF1 drivers were off the pace after the opening Friday practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. ralf was down in sixth with Juan Pablo in eleventh. Both drivers were over 1.5 seconds behind the quickest times.

   
Spanish GP Friday 1st Practice
 
In what appears to be a repeat of Friday practice at the San Marino Grand Prix both BMW WilliamsF1 drivers would struggle to set times anywhere near that of the quickest times been set by Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.

Ralf SchumacherRalf would be sixth while Juan Pablo was eleventh. For both drivers they were over 1.5 seconds behind the quickest times. These are not the sort of numbers that one could say are encouraging even if there is quite some time for the WilliamsF1 team to setup their cars.

Such was Michael's superiority that he would set a time that was two seconds faster than last year's pole time, and this was only in a practice session. He would be backed up by team-mate Rubens Barrichello who was second.

Third position would go to BAR-Honda test driver Anthony Davidson, slower than Michael by 0.958 seconds. This was an encouraging time for the BAR team as they try to challenge Ferrari.

Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta would finish fourth fastest. He was the only other driver to be within one second of Michael Schumacher. For BAR Jenson Button was 1.402 seconds off the pace in fifth.

WilliamsF1's Ralf Schumacher and Renault's Fernando Alonso finished sixth and seventh. Takuma Sato would make it three BAR cars inside the top ten. Toyota's Olivier Panis finished in ninth place with McLaren's  Kimi Raikkonen completing top ten. He was to be almost two seconds down Michael's time.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps

1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:15.658 8
2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:16.033 + 0.375 8
3. Davidson BAR Honda (M) 1:16.616 + 0.958 26
4. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:16.639 + 0.981 26
5. Button BAR Honda (M) 1:17.060 + 1.402 6
6. R. Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.165 + 1.507 12
7. Alonso Renault (M) 1:17.429 + 1.771 11
8. Sato BAR Honda (M) 1:17.481 + 1.823 6
9. Panis Toyota (M) 1:17.489 + 1.831 6
10. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:17.563 + 1.905 5
11. Montoya WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:17.635 + 1.977 10
12. Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:17.763 + 2.105 11
13. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:17.973 + 2.315 7
14. Trulli Renault (M) 1:18.341 + 2.683 16
15. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:18.362 + 2.704 12
16. Wirdheim Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:18.603 + 2.945 20
17. Klien Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:18.615 + 2.957 14
18. Glock Jordan Ford (B) 1:18.655 + 2.997 23
19. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 1:18.760 + 3.102 11
20. Fisichella Sauber Petronas (B) 1:18.886 + 3.228 12
21. Heidfeld Jordan Ford (B) 1:19.198 + 3.540 16
22. Pantano Jordan Ford (B) 1:19.925 + 4.267 14
23. Bruni Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:20.858 + 5.200 16
24. Leinders Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:21.053 + 5.395 21
25. Baumgartner Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:21.535 + 5.877 17
 
 
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