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Rain had been
falling onto the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in the lead up to the final
practice session for the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. This would make
conditions difficult as any rubber that had been laid down on Friday was
washed away. For the AT&T Williams team Friday had seen Rubens Barrichello
and Nico Hulkenberg finish in twelfth and thirteenth but there was
difficulties getting a balance with the FW32. The track was damp in places
as the drivers took to the circuit for the hour long session. Nico would
come out early for his installation lap pitting while Rubens came out.
Chandhok would stop at the end of the pit lane getting out of his car and
seeing it pushed back. We had yet to see both of the Mercedes cars out on
the circuit. Hamilton was out by himself but he would pit leaving the track
empty. De la Rosa would complain of the damp track and the poor grip levels.
Chandhok's failure was the result of an hydraulic problem. Glock was first
back out followed by Di Grassi. Glock would set a time of 1m:24.902, running
on the harder tyre. Glock would improve with a 1m:23.593 as other drivers
took to the circuit, including Alguersuari and Kobayashi. Di Grassi set a
1m:25.540 while Glock improved with a 1m:23.442. Buemi was next out with
just under forty minutes remaining. Alguersuari was now fastest with a
1M;22.156 but was beaten by Kobayashi with a 1m:20.863.
Kubica would leave the pits as Glock moved into second with a time of
1m:21.616. Kobayashi was able to improve with a 1m:19.789, followed by
Buemi. Nico would come out along with Alonso. Kobayashi was able to improve
with a 1m:19.422 followed by Buemi and now Alguersuari. Glock would pit
while Buemi would take to the grass at Turn eight. Kobayashi was again able
to improve with a 1m:19.023. Behind him both Buemi and
Alguersuari had improved but Alguersuari would move to the top of the times
with a 1m:18.862, followed now by Alonso and Kobayashi. Kubica was now
fourth from Buemi and Nico.
Alguersuari continued to improve with a 1m:18.310 but it was now Kubica in
second. Hamilton was up to third from Alonso and Buemi. Rubens was also out
on the track with thirty minutes remaining. Alonso was now fastest with a
1m:18.275. Nico was up to third with a time of 1m:18.516 but this became
fourth as Hamilton went fastest, 1m:17.689. Button was up to second,
1m:18.102, while Schumacher was up to fifth. Nico had pitted
while Rubens was down in sixteenth, 1m:22.748. Hamilton would improve with a
1m:17.131 as Button moved into second from Schumacher. Alonso was now fourth
while Liuzzi was in sixth. Liuzzi would improve to be fifth, 1m:17.717, and
on his next lap it would be fourth. Hamilton was into the 1m:16's with a
1m:16.911 but he was passed by Button who set a 1m:16.699.
Schumacher was now third from Vettel, Liuzzi, Alonso, Sutil, De la Rosa,
Petrov, and Massa in tenth. Massa would move up to eighth but this would
become ninth as Petrov moved up to fifth, 1m:17.641. Hamilton was again able
to improve with a 1m:16.259 as Vettel moved into third, 1m:16.825. Webber
was up to ninth while Nico had dropped to thirteenth and Rubens fifteenth.
Both Williams drivers had pitted with just over twenty minutes remaining.
Vettel was now second, 1m:16.671, while team-mate Webber was up to sixth.
Alonso was able to move ahead of Vettel with a 1m:16.495. Massa was in seventh
as Nico returned to the track. Nico had said that he
was much more happy with the rear stability of his car. Webber was now
fourth but on his next lap he was up to second, 1m:16.459.
With fifteen minutes left the track had emptied while it was shown that
Massa had made contact with the wall at Turn seven. Rubens was on of a few
drivers still out on the circuit. Kobayashi was now tenth, 1m:17.548, while
Nico and Rubens were now sixteenth and seventeenth. Schumacher was back out
as Williams Patrick Head was wondering why neither Williams driver was out
on the track putting in laps looking to find the grip.
Rubens was on an improved lap moving up to fourteenth with a time of
1m:17.789. Head would say that this was not the way to get the best out of
the prime tyres. Rubens would pit while we had yet to see either Chandhok or
Rosberg set a time. Rosberg had a sensor problem with his car. With eight
minutes remaining the slower drivers were out on the track but we would also
see the likes of Webber and Button come back out.
Drivers were starting to use the option tyre while Rubens would have some
suspension adjustments as he got ready to come out on the softer tyre. Nico
was back out on the track, joining most of the field. At the front it was
Hamilton from Webber, Alonso, Vettel, Button, Kubica, and Schumacher. The
track was very busy with four minutes left in the session. Head would say
that things don't look particularly good for us. Webber would
improve with a 1m:16.340 but remained in second. Hamilton was faster with a
1m:16.058 as Kubica moved into fifth with a 1m:16.653. Petrov was now
seventh from Schumacher and Sutil. Nico was now fourteenth, 1m:17.571, while
Rubens had dropped to be seventeenth, 1m:17.789. Di Grassi would spin at the
hairpin seeing the flag comes out.
With the end of the session Hamilton was still fastest from Webber, Alonso,
Schumacher now fourth, Vettel, Kubica, Sutil, Button, Liuzzi, Petrov, and
Nico in an encouraging eleventh. Rubens was down in a disappointing
seventeenth. Head was pleased to see Nico's time and was hoping that Rubens
would be up there in qualifying. As for qualifying it would look like both
Williams cars should make it into the second period but it would be doubtful
to see them go beyond that. |
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