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On another sunny
and warm day the AT&T Williams F1 team would prepare for the final practice
session for the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix. Friday practice would see the teams
drivers Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado finish in fourteenth and
sixteenth. During the Friday sessions the team continued testing their
updates for the FW33 including a new rear wing and floor. Now the question
was whether the team would be able to find the extra pace in order to bring
themselves closer to the front. With the start of the session there would be
a rush of drivers taking to the track for their installation laps. This
would include the likes of Button, Massa, Kobayashi, both Torro Rosso cars,
Alonso, Schumacher, and Rosberg. Pastor had also left the pits as the
drivers returned to the pits after their one lap.
Ferrari had been forced to run the rear wing from Turkey as the rear wing
that they brought to Spain was seen to be illegal as it was viewed that they
had extended the height of the rear wing above what it is allowed to be.
Rubens would come out of the pits as Pastor pitted. Rubens would also pit,
with Rosberg been the last to come back in. It was confirmed that Rubens
would be running with the new rear ring and Pastor the older one. Trulli
would be the first driver to return to the track, running on the hard tyres,
followed by Karthikeyan and Button. Trulli would set a 1m:30.924 as more
drivers left the pits with fifteen minutes completed. Di Resta was next out
along with Petrov. Heidfeld, Schumacher, and Kobayashi would also come out
as Karthikeyan set a 1m:35.535.
Glock was now second with Liuzzi moving head as Petrov went fastest with a
1m:30.418. Trulli was now second from Liuzzi and Glock. Pastor was back out
as Di Resta set a 1m:30.120 to go fastest. Both Mercedes cars were out on
the track as Petrov set a 1m:29.002. Schumacher was now fourth with a
1m:32.093. Kobayashi was now fastest, 1m:27.826, from Petrov and Di Resta.
Rubens was now out on the track joined by Webber. Schumacher was now fastest
with a 1m:26.599, while team-mate Rosberg moved up to third, 1m:28.086.
Pastor and Rubens had yet to set a time but Pastor would complete his
first timed lap to go sixth with a 1m:29.131.
Rosberg was now fastest with a 1m:26.356 but he was passed by Webber with a
1m:24.750. Rosberg was now second from Schumacher, Kobayashi, Di Resta, and
Petrov in sixth. Rubens first lap time was a 1m:30.905. Heidfeld's session
would come to an end with the rear of his Renault in flames as be pulled off
the track. Heidfeld was able to get out of the car quickly and the fire was
just as quickly put out. Heidfeld would tell his team of the fire and was
told to get out quickly. While this was happening Hamilton had moved up to
second with a 1m:24.888 with Rosberg third. It would be very surprising to
see the Renault team get this charred R31 ready for qualifying.
Schumacher was fourth while Pastor had improved to be fifth, 1m:27.233.
Rubens was currently in tenth with a 1m:27.807. Vettel, Button, and Alonso
had yet to set times with thirty minutes of the session remaining. Webber
and both Mercedes cars had pitted along with both Williams cars. Webber
would improve his time with a 1m:23.846. Massa was now fifth with a
1m:26.786 followed by Perez. Pastor was now seventh and Rubens twelfth.
Hamilton would improve with a 1m:24.515 but remained second, 0.669 behind
Webber. Perez was now fifth with a 1m:26.678. Buemi was eighth from Petrov
and Sutil in tenth.
Alonso was now on a timed lap moving straight into fourth with a time of
1m:26.258. Schumacher was in fifth as Alonso finished his next lap but
remained fourth. Button's first lap would see him jump up to third with a
1m:25.140, running on the hard tyre. Webber was back out while Vettel was
still in his pit and yet to set a time. Pastor was now ninth and Rubens
fifteenth. Button had improved to be second, 1m:24.357, as Schumacher
running on the soft tyres went fastest with a 1m:23.037. Pastor had dropped
to tenth and Rubens fifteenth. With just over twenty minutes remaining the
track was now very busy with Schumacher pitting after his quick lap. Rubens
was now also back out on the track.
Button was on an improved lap but he would lose time in the final sector
remaining in third.
Rosberg was on the softer tyre and on a quick lap. He would finish with a
1m:23.397 to finish in second. Perez had set a 1m:24.622 but remained in
sixth. Pastor was now also out on the track as Buemi moved up to sixth,
1m:24.535. Webber would pit while it was reported that Vettel was having a
problem in the engine area. Perez was seventh while Alguersuari was up to
eighth using the soft tyre. Massa was on a quick lap, running on the softer
tyre. Pastor and Rubens were now thirteenth and fifteenth. Massa would
finish his lap with a 1m:24.322 to be fourth fastest. Perez was now up to
fifth, 1m:24.329, s Rubens set a 1m:27.092 to be thirteenth. Pastor was now
fourteenth with a 1m:27.124. The work on Vettel's car continued with twelve
minutes left in the session.
There were now only a few cars out on the track as Rubens pitted. On the
softer tyre Kobayashi would move up to third with time of 1m:23.669. Pastor
had been running on the harder tyre and would pit after running wide putting
his right wheels into the gravel. Webber was back out for his soft tyre run
as Kovalainen moved up to twelfth, 1m:26.498. Alonso was out on the soft
tyre as Webber went fastest in sector one and two. He would finish his lap
setting a 1m:21.791 to be 1.2 seconds ahead of Schumacher. More drivers were
coming on for the qualifying simulations. Rubens and Pastor were now
fifteenth and sixteenth.
Button and Hamilton were eighth and ninth, both now running on the option
tyre. Webber would go faster in sector one. Rubens would be the first of the
Williams to come back out as Hamilton and Button improved to be third and
fourth. Rosberg was now fifth from Kobayashi and Alonso. Webber would set a
fastest final sector time but his lap time would not improve. Pastor was now
also back out for his final run with three minutes remaining. Alonso had
pitted earlier with what appeared to be a gear selection problem. Vettel was
now out on the track as Rubens started an improved lap. He would finish with
a 1m:24.318 to be an encouraging ninth. Pastor was now in eighteenth while
Webber would pit.
Petrov was on a quicker lap looking to move up from seventh. Vettel was on a
quick lap going fastest in sector two. On his one lap he would move to the
top of the times with a 1m:21.707, in what was an amazing effort given his
problems. Pastor would set a 1m:24.399 to move up to thirteenth. The session
would end with Vettel fastest from Webber, Schumacher, Hamilton, Button,
Rosberg, Kobayashi, Petrov, Alonso, and Rubens in tenth. Massa was eleventh
from Perez, Pastor, Buemi, and Sutil. For the Williams team seeing Rubens in
the top ten after their lack of pace after Friday's practice must be
encouraging. Pastor again is off the pace of his more experienced team-mate.
Rubens may be able to make it into Q3 in qualifying but for Pastor it is
again going to be difficult to make it past Q2. |
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