Belgian GP : Maldonado ahead of Barrichello FP2


Pastor Maldonado

By Andrew Hooper
August 26 2011

The second Friday practice for the 2011 Belgian GP would see Williams drivers Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello finish in 12th and 16th respectively. On a day that was made even more difficult by the changing weather conditions it would be hard to judge the performances of the Williams drivers. But having said that when the teams could get in some dry weather running both Pastor and Rubens were around 2.5 seconds off the pace.

 
 Belgian GP Friday 2nd Practice
 
Barrichello
 

At the Spa-Francorchamps circuit further rain would fall between the first and second Friday practice sessions but the track would dry out but there was the possibility of further rain before the end of the session. In a session where it would be hard to draw any conclusions the AT&T Williams team would see drivers Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado finish in eighth and fifteenth. The start of the second Friday session would see Kobayashi out first followed by several other drivers, one being Rubens. Pastor would also take to the track to assess the conditions. The track was looking tricky with spray coming off the tyres. Kobayashi would set a 2m:16.279 with Ricciardo setting a 2m:24.063. Alguersuari and Buemi were second and third. Rubens was now fourth, 2m:17.327.

Only four drivers were still in their pits as Webber set a 2m:11.652 to be fastest. Pastor was now up to fourth, 2m:17.192. But Schumacher would move up to fourth pushing Pastor to fifth. Rubens had dropped to seventh. Petrov would jump up to second, 2m:14.790, from Buemi, Kobayashi, and Alguersuari. Rubens would improve with a 2m:14.989 to be third. Pastor was now fourth, 2m:15.402. Webber would also find time setting a 2m:10.524. Alonso was now second, 2m:10.839, from Kobayashi, Schumacher, Petrov, and Rubens. With the track conditions changing there were changes taking place constantly. Alguersuari was now third while Rubens had dropped to seventh and Pastor ninth. Buemi would move into seventh seeing Rubens now eighth. Webber was on a quicker lap as Rubens improved to be third, 2m:12.697. Webber would finish his lap setting a 2m:09.094. Pastor was now eighth, 2m:14.426, while Senna would set a 2m:10.901 to be third.

Buemi was now fourth from Kobayashi and Rubens. But Alguersuari and Rosberg would move up to fourth and fifth. Webber would again improve setting a 2m:08.351. Senna was now second followed by Petrov and Alonso. Rubens would pit from ninth with Pastor in tenth. Vettel and Button were now out on the track with just Hamilton and Di Resta yet to take to the track. Vettel would move to the top of the times with a 2m:06.398. Senna was now second, 2m:08.293. Pastor would jump up to sixth, 2m:09.444, but as Alguersuari moved into second Pastor would drop to seventh. Rubens was now twelfth as second placed Alguersuari set a 2m:07.806 but would remain second. Kobayashi set a 2m:06.432 to be second to Vettel but Buemi would go fastest with a time of 2m:05.719. Pastor would also pit as Alonso went fastest with a 2m:03.953.

Vettel would move up to second, 2m:04.115, with Hulkenberg now third. But in very changeable conditions drivers would continue to find time. Buemi was now third, 2m:04.151, while at the front Button would go fastest with a 2m:02.206. Pastor was now thirteenth and Rubens eighteenth. Rubens would return to the track as Schumacher moved up to second, 2m:03.549. Webber was down in twelfth as Trulli moved up to eleventh, 2m:07.519. Button would pit as Perez moved up to eighth, 2m:05.260. Trulli would improve with a 2m:06.667, while Rubens was on a improved lap moving up to eighth, 2m:04.188. Webber would jump up to the top of the times with a 2m:01.015, to be 1.191 seconds ahead of Button. Rosberg would join Webber moving into second with a 2m:01.741. Rubens was in tenth and had pitted. Alonso was in seventh, 2m:03.953, and was out on the medium tyres.

Petrov would jump up to fourth, 2m:02.234, as Hamilton finally left the pits. Alonso was fastest in sector one and two and would complete his lap setting a 1m:56.292, to be 4.6 seconds ahead of Webber's 2m:00.964. Massa was now in second, 1m:59.322, as Pastor left the pits for his second run. Schumacher was now fastest with a 1m:55.186, but just as quickly Alonso would go fastest again with a 1m:53.942. On the slick tyre Hamilton would move up to third, 1m:56.053. The track was now very busy with fifty minutes remaining. Buemi was now fourth from Kobayashi. Schumacher was again fastest with a 1m:52.102 from Alonso, Hamilton, and Vettel. Rosberg would go fastest with a 1m:51.967 while Alguersuari moved into fifth. Rubens and Pastor were now twelfth and thirteenth, 1m:56.642 and a 1m:57.333. The times continued to fall with Perez now fifth, 1m:52.929. Hamilton was now second behind Rosberg, 1m:52.066.
 
Maldonado
 
D'Ambrosio was out on the soft tyre as reports had rain on its way. Pastor would have a moment seeing his car run wide but he was able to continue. Rubens was now up to tenth, 1m:54.853, while Pastor had dropped to fifteenth. Vettel would jump to the top of the times with a 1m:51.794, running on the soft tyre. Rosberg's time was also done on the soft tyre. Vettel would pit while Schumacher was in second, 1m:51.922, from Rosberg and Perez. Rubens would find time setting a 1m:53.430 to be ninth. Pastor had pitted after his off-track moment. Webber, currently in sixth, had pitted and taken on the soft tyres. Button was down in twenty third as Rosberg went fastest with a 1m:51.242. But Alonso would move ahead with a 1m:50.461. It was all happening as the drivers looked to get as many dry laps in as they could. Hulkenberg and Di Resta would move into third and fourth. Vettel was now fifth but still on the medium tyre.

Pastor was back out while Rubens was now eleventh. On the soft tyre Webber would move to the top of the tyres with a 1m:50.430. Button would move up to third, 1m:50.770, with Massa and Rosberg fourth and fifth. Pastor was now twenty first but on a better lap. He would move up to twelfth, 1m:52.750, as the rain started to fall. Rubens was in his pit while Hamilton moved up to fourth, 1m:50.838. Senna was in seventeenth as the dry running came to an end. The drivers were all coming back in leaving the track empty. it was expected to rain until the end of the session. But despite the wet conditions several drivers would come back out for some wet running. We would have Webber, Rosberg, Schumacher, Pastor, and Senna out on the track with five minutes left in the session. The spray coming off the cars was huge as Webber and Rosberg pitted. Both Torro Rosso cars would come out as the session drew to a close. Senna would pit as several other drivers would come out; including Kobayashi and Glock. Rosberg, Perez, Hulkenberg, and Di Resta were out on the track. Both Ferrari's had left the pit looking to carry-out a practice start at the end of their laps.

So with the session coming to an end Webber was fastest from Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Massa, Rosberg, Perez, Hulkenberg, Di Resta, and Vettel in tenth. For the Williams team Pastor and Rubens would finish in twelfth and sixteenth respectively. On a day that was made even more difficult by the changing weather conditions it would be hard to judge the performances of the Williams drivers. But having said that when the teams could get in some dry weather running both Pastor and Rubens were around 2.5 seconds off the pace. It was encouraging to see Pastor ahead of his team-mate but Spa is a track where Pastor has had some success in the past.
 
Williams Pits
  
Pos  Driver	    Team		  Time       Laps
 1.  M Webber       Red Bull-Renault      1m50.321s  22
 2.  F Alonso       Ferrari               1m50.461s  18
 3.  J Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m50.770s  9
 4.  L Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      1m50.838s  9
 5.  F Massa        Ferrari               1m51.218s  14
 6.  N Rosberg      Mercedes              1m51.242s  22
 7.  S Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m51.655s  20
 8.  N Hulkenberg   Force India-Mercedes  1m51.725s  17
 9.  P di Resta     Force India-Mercedes  1m51.751s  8
10.  S Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      1m51.790s  13
11.  M Schumacher   Mercedes              1m51.922s  22
12.  P Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth     1m52.750s  20
13.  K Kobayashi    Sauber-Ferrari        1m52.780s  25
14.  J Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m52.911s  24
15.  S Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m53.009s  24
16.  R Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m53.156s  17
17.  B Senna        Renault               1m53.835s  20
18.  J Trulli       Lotus-Renault         1m55.051s  20
19.  T Glock        Virgin-Cosworth       1m55.494s  22
20.  H Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault         1m56.202s  15
21.  J D'Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m56.816s  20
22.  T Liuzzi       HRT-Cosworth          1m57.450s  19
23.  D Ricciardo    HRT-Cosworth          1m57.612s  24
24.  V Petrov       Renault               2m02.234s  12
 

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Belgian GP : Maldonado ahead of Barrichello FP2
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 26/08/2011 14:54
Williams F1
26/08/2011 14:54
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LiXiQing
27/08/2011 14:24
Guys
Rubens wount become da savior
da team iz in da donkey
Dear Frank - dis iz daEn
d

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