BMW WilliamsF1 heads times in final practice

By Andrew Hooper
July 5 2003

   
French GP Saturday 2nd Practice
 
The second Saturday practice would see both BMW WilliamsF1 drivers at the top of the times with Ralf first and Juan Pablo second. This was an encouraging show of speed by both drivers as the teams prepared for the final qualifying session.

Ralf SchumacherWith the times from the earlier session not counting the session would see McLaren's Raikkonen setting the fastest time early in the session despite missing his braking point at the chateau d'eau. His time would be a 1m:18.633. Next would be BAR's Jacques Villeneuve in second with Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta third.

But their times would be quickly beaten with Renault's Jarno Trulli going fastest, with Jaguar's Mark Webber second. For BMW WilliamsF1 Ralf would improves to take third position. Team-mate Juan Pablo would go second as Villeneuve dropped down to sixth.

With over half completed neither Ferrari driver had taken to the track. After his engine failure in the opening practice BAR's Jenson Button was also in the pits waiting for his engine to be replaced.

With an improved sector one Kimi Raikkonen would go fastest with a time of 1m:16.012. But his time would quickly be passed by team-mate David Coulthard with a lap of 1m:15.600. For Coulthard his weekend must see him secure a good race result.

As the final ten minutes counted down Barrichello would improve to move into fourth while team-mate Michael Schumacher was fifth. But he would push Rubens down to fifth as he improved to fourth.

Now it would be the turn of Juan Pablo to set the fastest time with a lap of 1m:15.577. For David Coulthard he would have a spin at the Lycee corner, returning to the track. In a continuation of his good performance Ralf Schumacher would move into first with a time of 1m:14.966.

For Jenson Button he was only able to get out in the closing minutes as his mechanics were able to change his engine just in time. With the finish of the session the top six was dominated by Michelin supplied rivers with Ralf leading Juan Pablo, Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen and Alonso. Michael was the only Bridgestone supplied driver.
 
P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Times Ave/Gaps Laps

1. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'14"966 211.824 Km/h 17
2. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'15"577 + 0'00"611 17
3. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'15"600 + 0'00"634 14
4. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'15"918 + 0'00"952 19
5. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'16"012 + 0'01"046 14
6. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'16"039 + 0'01"073 20
7. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'16"112 + 0'01"146 24
8. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'16"133 + 0'01"167 17
9. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'16"345 + 0'01"379 18
10. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'16"376 + 0'01"410 22
11. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'17"036 + 0'02"070 25
12. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'17"101 + 0'02"135 21
13. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'17"690 + 0'02"724 22
14. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'17"776 + 0'02"810 23
15. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'17"808 + 0'02"842 3
16. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'17"908 + 0'02"942 21
17. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'18"057 + 0'03"091 25
18. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'18"670 + 0'03"704 17
19. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'18"696 + 0'03"730 8
20. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 1'19"044 + 0'04"078 18
 
 
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