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Between the two Friday practice
sessions the Williams F1 team could be seen working on Pastor Maldonado's
car just before the start of the second ninety minute sessions. Valtteri
Bottas's car was ready to go as the final minutes counted down. Having used
the medium tyre solely in the first Friday session the softer yellow
marked soft tyres would be expected to be seen. Ferrari had confirmed that
they were able to resolve his earlier issues without changing his gearbox.
The quickest time from the earlier session was a 1m:26.683 from Vettel. The
session would go green and it would be Chilton out first followed by
Valtteri Bottas. Raikkonen was out early joined by Di Resta who had missed the first session. More
drivers would come out including Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Vergne, and Van der
Gar. Further drivers like Grosjean, Alonso, Perez, Button, Sutil, and Massa
also took to the track.
A 1m:32.542 from Chilton but Valtteri would set a 1m:29.663 on his first
lap. Raikkonen would go fastest with a 1m:28.419 with everyone running on
the medium tyre so far. Ricciardo would go second and Hulkenberg third.
Valtteri was now fourth but we had yet to see Pastor come out. Perez was now
second with a 1m:28.829 followed by Ricciardo, Button, and Valtteri. Valtteri had set a 1m:29.129
while at the front Hamilton would go fastest, 1m:28.146, but Grosjean would
go quicker with a 1m:27.531. Alonso was now third and Massa fourth as Webber
took to the track. Raikkonen would spin at Turn three as Vettel went fastest
with a time of 1m:27.360. Valtteri had dropped to eleventh as Ricciardo improved to be
third, 1m:28.021. Pastor was finally able to come out as Raikkonen improved
to be third with a 1m:27.889. Both Hamilton and Perez would move ahead of
the Lotus driver with Hamilton third and Perez fourth.
Valtteri had improved with a 1m:28.569 but remained eleventh. Valtteri would
pit while Pastor had yet to set a time as Vettel lowered his quickest time
with a 1m:27.059 to be fastest. Webber was now second, 1m:27.363 with
Grosjean now third. Perez would go fastest in sector one while for Williams
Pastor would set a 1m:29.954 to be eighteenth. Perez would finish his lap setting a 1m:27.244
to be second. Rosberg had improved to now be third with a 1m:27.332. Webber
was fourth but on a quicker lap finishing with a 1m:27.011 to be quickest.
The track had emptied somewhat as drivers pitted after their first run.
Pastor's next lap was a 1m:28.569 to be thirteenth. Valtteri was one place
behind his team-mate with twenty minutes of the session completed. Rosberg
was able to continue to find time with a 1m:27.010 to go fastest.
Massa was now in sixth, 1m:27.494, as Pastor continued to put in further
laps after his delayed start to the session. With just over an hour
remaining drivers started to swap to the softer tyre with both Vettel and
Raikkonen out on the option tyre. Valtteri was back out but running on the
medium tyre as Vettel went fastest with a 1m:25.722 on the soft tyre.
Grosjean was second followed by Rosberg and Webber. Webber was out on the soft tyre and was told that there was an eight tenth
of a second lap improvement. Vettel would continue on his softer tyres going
faster in the first two sectors. He would pit rather than set a time.
Raikkonen would improve to be second with a 1m:26.632 but Webber would move
ahead with a 1m:26.011. Pastor was thirteenth and Valtteri fifteenth with
both drivers still out on the medium tyre.
Perez was out on the soft tyre as Rosberg improved with a 1m:26.582 to be
third. Raikkonen was now fourth followed by Perez, Grosjean, Hamilton,
Massa, Alonso, and for Williams Pastor had improved to be tenth with a
1m:27.720. This would become eleventh as Hulkenberg went ninth fastest.
Massa was now fifth, 1m:26.827, as Valtteri pitted having completed his
medium tyre run. Grosjean was about to try the softer tyre as Massa improved
to be fourth with a 1m:26.601. Grosjean would complete his first soft tyre
run finishing with a 1m:26.426 to now be third. Pastor would pit with just
over forty five minutes remaining. Sutil was now in ninth with a time of
1m:27.375 with Pastor now twelfth and Valtteri fifteenth. Alonso was now out
on the soft tyre along with Button. Button would set a 1m:26.972 to be
eighth running on the soft tyre. Alonso would set 1m:26.430 on his first run
on the soft tyre. Hamilton in tenth had yet to run on the softer tyre.
With forty minutes remaining the track was now quite empty as Valtteri
returned to the track this time on the soft tyre. Di Resta had improved to
be thirteenth with a 1m:27.608 as Hamilton came out for his soft tyre run.
On his first lap Valtteri would set a 1m:27.429 to be twelfth. Pastor was
also back out while Webber was also back out on another set of options.
Hamilton would go fourth fastest with a 1m:26.399 as Vettel returned to the
track. Alonso was now fifth followed by Rosberg, Massa, Raikkonen, Perez,
and Button tenth. Valtteri had pitted as Ricciardo improved to be eleventh
running on the soft tyre, 1m:27.304. After their flying laps the teams now started to work on their longer runs.
Valtteri had reported that he made a mistake on his first soft tyre run as
Pastor was now out on the softer tyre.
Both Red Bull cars were on longer runs on the softer tyre with thirty
minutes of the session remaining. But they would stop and switch to the
medium tyre with just over twenty six minutes remaining. Valtteri would
return to the track as other drivers would say that after just short runs
the softer tyre would be very worn. The drivers who had switched to the
medium tyre would show that this tyre would be a far better race tyre.
Pastor would have a drama with his right front wheel seeing sparks and he
would pull up at the entry to the pit lane. His wheel nut would come off and
his tyre would suffer a puncture. This would see Pastor out of the car his
session over early. Replays would show his right front wheel nut come off as
he went through Turn seven with Pastor continuing but stopping with a
puncture. With just over fifteen minutes remaining only Ricciardo was in the pits. Pastor's car would be cleared but
would the FIA take action against the Williams team especially after the
loss of the tyre off Pastor's car in Japan.
Ten minutes remaining as drivers continued with their runs. Drivers were
pushing the softer tyre to its limits trying to find out how durable they
will be for the race. Other drivers had switched to the medium tyre with
eight minutes remaining. Valtteri would pit while Raikkonen would pit taking
on the medium tyre. Valtteri would not return to the track as the final
minutes counted down. The Williams team was waiting to see Pastor's car come
back in order to try and find why he had lost his wheel nut. Both Red Bull
cars were lapping in the 1m:29s considerably faster than their rivals. With
the end of the session Valtteri and Pastor would finish down in thirteenth,
1m:27.429, and sixteenth, 1m:27.720, with Valtteri again faster than Pastor.
Quickest was Vettel from Webber, Grosjean, Hamilton, Alonso, Rosberg, Massa,
Raikkonen, Perez, and Button tenth. |
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