Montoya maintains 2nd after practice in Germany


Montoya

By Andrew Hooper
July 24 2004

BMW WilliamsF1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya would maintain his 2nd position after practice in Germany. Team-mate Pizzonia would agin set an encouraging time to be ninth in his first Grand Prix since been dropped by Jaguar last year.

   
German GP Saturday 4th Practice
 
For the BMW WilliamsF1 team the final practice session for the German Grand Prix would see Juan Pablo set a stunning time of 1m:13.976 to go fastest. But in the dying moments of the session he would be beaten by Jenson Button to finish the session in second. team-mate Pizzonia was down in ninth.

PizzoniaWith Michael Schumacher the fastest driver so far in practice with a time of 1m:15.066 followed by Juan Pablo Montoya the drivers would again take to the circuit to make their final preparations prior to qualifying. The Jaguar's of Mark Webber and Christian Klien would be first out onto the track, joined by Alonso and the McLaren's of Raikkonen and Coulthard.

Webber would set a time of 1m:17.912 followed by Klien with a 1m:18.108. But in a stunning lap it would be Alonso who would jump into contention with a 1m:15.224. Raikkonen was very close to the Renault driver with a 1m:15.305. Juan Pablo would also go out and would set a time of 1m:16.202 to see him in fourth. Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta would move into third with a 1m:15.904.

Michael Schumacher would move into third with a 1m:15.448. He would improve on this with a lap time of 1m:15.003 to go fastest. Right behind him was team-mate Barrichello with a 1m:15.042 that would see him in second. But in somewhat of a surprise Toyota's Olivier Panis would set a time of 1m:14.953, fastest so far this weekend, and that was less than a tenth down on Montoya's lap record of Hockenheim set in 2003. The TF104B certainly has shown some encouraging pace. Da Matta was now in sixth.

PizzoniaBut as the times continued to fall it would be Alonso who would now move to the top of the times with a 1m:14.490. Just as quickly Raikkonen would beat Alonso with a lap of 1m:14.100.

Team-mate Coulthard would set a time of 1m:14.208 to now be in second. He missed out by two tenths on going fastest. With fifteen minutes left Michael Schumacher would have a harmless spin at the Sachs curve returning to his pit. But with few cars on the track it would be Juan Pablo who would demolish the times set so far when he crossed the line with a time of 1m:13.976. this would raise the obvious questions as to whether he was carrying a light fuel load.

Michael Schumacher would improve his time with a 1m:14.459. So with just minutes remaining Coulthard would miss taking the top spot by just one tenth when he set a time of 1m:14.064. in the final minute it would be Jenson Button who would come out and be three tenths up on Montoya's time after two sectors. A time of 1m:13.676 would see him on top by three tenths. Michael would make one last run but he would abort his lap and return to his pit.
 
Pos Driver Team Time Laps

1. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:13.676 15
2. Montoya WilliamsF1-BMW (M) 1:13.976 + 0.300 11
3. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:14.064 + 0.388 11
4. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:14.100 + 0.424 14
5. Alonso Renault (M) 1:14.320 + 0.644 12
6. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:14.393 + 0.717 12
7. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:14.459 + 0.783 14
8. Trulli Renault (M) 1:14.468 + 0.792 15
9. Pizzonia WilliamsF1-BMW (M) 1:14.766 + 1.090 10
10. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:14.791 + 1.115 19
11. Panis Toyota (M) 1:14.953 + 1.277 16
12. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:15.000 + 1.324 25
13. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:15.481 + 1.805 20
14. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:15.572 + 1.896 10
15. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:15.588 + 1.912 10
16. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:16.832 + 3.156 16
17. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:18.227 + 4.551 13
18. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:18.691 + 5.015 15
19. Sato BAR-Honda (M) No Time
20. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) No Time 
 
 
Message Board
 
HP Formula One 2004
Click image for HP F1 Site

Bookmark or share this story with: