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The practice sessions leading up
to Saturday's practice would see both Williams Martini cars being in the top
ten in both FP1 and FP2. In the second session Felipe Massa would finish in
sixth and Valtteri Bottas in ninth. There was a lot of discussion in regard
to tyre degradation as the Saturday practice session got underway. Ericsson
would be first out in his Caterham. Plenty of cars would come out with
Felipe first out for Williams. Valtteri would follow him moments later as
drivers started to pit after their installation lap. Both Felipe and
Valtteri were out on the hard tyre Both Williams cars would also pit with
everyone except for the Red Bull cars having come out. But both Red Bull
cars would leave the pits followed by Maldonado and Grosjean in their Lotus
cars. Lotus had struggled on Friday getting little track time as Ericsson
came out. Sutil was next out joined by Chilton and Kobayashi.
A 1m:49.882 from Maldonado as Gutierrez came back out. Felipe would be the
first out for Williams followed shortly after by Kvyat. Maldonado would
improve with a 1m:45.211 as Ericsson set a 1m:47.302. Kobayashi would move
into second with a 1m:46.015 with Sutil now fourth. Vergne and Raikkonen
were next out as Maldonado set a 1m:44.622 with Chilton now second,
1m:45.528. More drivers were coming out including Alonso, Perez, Hulkenberg,
and Rosberg. Felipe would go fastest with a 1m:42.855 with Sutil now second.
But Kvyat moved into second with the track now very busy. Gutierrez was now
third with Raikkonen on a quick lap. Vergne was now second with a time of
1m:43.307 but Raikkonen would go fastest with a 1m:41.835 seeing Felipe now
second, followed by Vergne, Kvyat, Gutierrez, Sutil, and Maldonado eighth.
Valtteri was now out on the track as Magnussen came on his radio saying he
had a problem with his engine seeing him slow and pit. Alonso would move
into second, 1m:42.293, and Perez third, 1m:42.770. Felipe was now fourth
but this would become fifth as Valtteri went second, 1m:42.158. Hamilton
would go fastest with a 1m:41.246. But it was changing quickly at the front with Rosberg going
quicker with a time of 1m:40.946. Valtteri was now fourth and Felipe eighth.
Raikkonen would pit with thirty six minutes remaining in the session.
Valtteri had at this time completed six laps and Felipe eight. Everyone was
still on the hard tyre as Alonso had also pitted. Hulkenberg was now sixth,
1m:42.520, seeing Felipe ninth. Felipe had pitted as Hamilton went fastest
with a 1m:40.552. Everyone was reporting very poor rear grip in the slow
corners. The track now only had a handful of cars running including
Valtteri.
Grosjean was back out on the track after some aero changes to his car.
Valtteri would pit with just over half an hour remaining. Vettel and
Ricciardo were out and Vettel would set a 1m:42.496 to be sixth but this
would become seventh as Ricciardo set a 1m:42.072 to be fourth. Maldonado
was also back out with Grosjean and Maldonado fifteenth and sixteenth.
Maldonado was out on the medium tyre as Felipe returned to the track still
running on the hard tyre. Magnussen was back out after his problem but had
yet to set a time. Valtteri was back out also on the hard tyre joined by
several other drivers. Of those cars on the track both Ferrari's were out on
the medium tyre with Rosberg being the first back out for Mercedes. Both
Ferrari's were on quick laps swapping fastest sectors as Alonso went second
with a 1m:40.736. Both Mercedes cars were on the medium tyre with Raikkonen
now fastest with a 1m:40.156. Ricciardo and Vettel were now fifth and sixth
with Valtteri now seventh and Felipe eleventh.
Rosberg would go fastest with a 1m:39.008 to lead Raikkonen by over a
second. Both Williams drivers continued their hard tyre run with Hamilton
now third, 1m:40.552. There was fifteen minutes remaining in the session
with it being reported that the Williams team would move onto their
qualification run in the last ten minutes. Hamilton would improve to be
second, 1m:39.240. Rosberg had pitted returning to the hard tyre for his
final run. Felipe would pit having completed seven laps in his last run.
Hulkenberg and Gutierrez were now eighth and ninth running on the medium
tyre. Valtteri would also come in as Rosberg pitted again. Perez was now
fifth with a time of 1m:41.029. Gutierrez would improve to be sixth as
Ricciardo came back out on the medium tyre. Valtteri and Felipe were now
ninth and twelfth. Hulkenberg was now fourth, 1m:40.523, despite locking it
up at Turn fifteen.
Valtteri would be first back out for Williams running on the medium tyre
with just over six minutes left in the session. Felipe was also back out
also on the medium tyre. The track was very busy but both Mercedes cars were
still in their pits. Ricciardo would move into fifth with a 1m:40.686 as
Hulkenberg pitted. Both McLaren's were at the bottom of the times with both
cars having technical issues seeing them not able to come back out. Valtteri
would set a 1m:41.135 to now be eighth as Felipe moved up to seventh,
1m:40.781, seeing Valtteri drop to ninth. Vettel would jump into fourth,
1m:40.387, seeing Felipe eighth and Valtteri tenth. Both Williams drivers
would slow for their next lap looking to get extra life out of their medium
tyres. The session would come to an end with Felipe and Valtteri now eighth
and ninth, 1m:40.781 and 1m:40.891. The Williams pair were running quite close together in the final
times but one would have felt that the team was hoping for a slightly better
result. |