Juan Pablo's turn to be fifth in final US practice


FW26 in pitlane

By Andrew Hooper
June 19 2004

It would be Juan Pablo Montoya's turn to finish fifth in final practice for the United States Grand Prix. Ralf, who was in the same 5th position in the previous practce session, would finish in eighth. It looks like qualifying will be a difficult time for both drivers.

   
United States GP Saturday 4th Practice
 
The final practice session for the United States Grand Prix would see a reversal of their earlier practice positions with Juan Pablo finishing in fifth while Ralf was down in eighth. Both FW26's were very fastest with Juan Pablo setting a top speed of 344kph down the main straight. Based on these times it would appear to be a difficult task for the WilliamsF1 drivers come qualifying.

Montoya & his engineerWith Rubens Barrichello dominating the practice session held so far the teams would have on their final opportunity prior to qualifying. The first driver out in the final practice was Mark Webber, using a new Cosworth engine. He was joined by Toyota's Olivier Panis. Webber would set a time of 1m:12.652, which he would improve with a 1m:12.590.

Looking to improve on his earlier Saturday time Juan Pablo would go fastest with a 1m:12.413. But again it would be a Ferrari, this time Michael Schumacher, who would take the top spot with a time of 1m:11.063. Team-mate Barrichello would go second with a time of 1m:11.614.

BAR's Jenson Button would move into third, with fourth through to fifth been Klein, Sato, and Trulli. Juan Pablo was now down in eighth and Ralf tenth. Ralf had set a time of 1m:12.465. With fifteen minutes run Olivier Panis would set a quick lap to go second with a time of 1m:11.242. In 2004 Panis had qualified third, will he be able to repeat this performance. Team-mate Da Matta was in tenth. McLaren's David Coulthard would take eleventh after his first timed lap. Montoya would improve his time with a 1m:12.349 but this was only good enough for eighth.

Renault's Fernando Alonso would set his first time, a 1m:12.486 to go thirteenth. da Matta would set the fastest first sector, 21.9 seconds, and the fastest second sector, 29.0 seconds, and he would cross the line fastest with a time of 1m:10.895. So we would have a Toyota first and third. Ralf would move into sixth with a 1m:11.906. Juan Pablo was down in eleventh. Button would improve his time with a 1m:11.552 jumping ahead of Rubens who was now fifth.
Raikkonen was in sixth.

Ralf SchumacherThe next big mover would be Renault's Jarno Trulli who would move into third with a time of 1m:11.128. Despite his new engine Mark Webber was far behind his team-mate Klein in fourteenth position. His session would come to a close when Mark would spin his Jaguar. With half an hour of the session run Alonso would jump up to be fifth with a time of 1m:11.500. BAR's Takuma Sato would improve to be sixth, a 1m:11.513, to be ahead of team-mate Button by one place. Michael Schumacher would set out on a quick lap with the fastest first and third sectors to move to the top of the times with a 1m:10.566.

Ralf and Juan Pablo were struggling to match their rivals times. They were now in eleventh and thirteenth places respectively. Following the lead from Michael Rubens would move into second with a 1m:10.712.

With six minutes left in the session Button would pull out a very quick lap to leave the Ferrari's well behind him. His time of 1m:10.056 was 0.510 ahead of Michael. Da Matt would improve his time with a 1m:10.802 to remain in fourth. Trulli would also improve his time but remain in fifth. Alonso would move into fourth but it would be the BAR team that would see both its drivers at the top of the times with Sato joining Button by moving into second with a time of 1m:10.251. Ralf was able to move into seventh.

Montoya was to jump into fifth while Michael Schumacher would push Sato out of second with a 1m:10.199. Sato was third with Rubens fourth four tenths ahead of Juan Pablo. Ralf would finish the session in eighth.
 
P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Times Ave/Gaps Laps

1. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M 1'10"056 215.416 Km/h 17
2. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'10"199 + 0'00"143 16
3. 10 SATO BAR Honda M 1'10"251 + 0'00"195 23
4. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'10"351 + 0'00"295 16
5. 3 MONTOYA WilliamsF1 BMW M 1'10"708 + 0'00"652 13
6. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'10"749 + 0'00"693 13
7. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'10"802 + 0'00"746 19
8. 4 R. SCHUMACHER WilliamsF1 BMW M 1'10"820 + 0'00"764 9
9. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'10"848 + 0'00"792 13
10. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'11"222 + 0'01"166 14
11. 17 PANIS Toyota M 1'11"242 + 0'01"186 20
12. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'11"395 + 0'01"339 13
13. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M 1'11"992 + 0'01"936 20
14. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B 1'12"524 + 0'02"468 16
15. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'12"590 + 0'02"534 14
16. 19 PANTANO Jordan Ford B 1'12"603 + 0'02"547 9
17. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B 1'12"686 + 0'02"630 10
18. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1'12"861 + 0'02"805 9
19. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B 1'13"869 + 0'03"813 13
20. 20 BRUNI Minardi Cosworth B 1'13"915 + 0'03"859 14 
 
 
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