Hamilton Tops in Final F1 Practice
Lewis Hamilton set himself for a pole position challenge by topping the timesheets in the final free practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The 22-year-old McLaren Mercedes-Benz driver rose to the top of the standings during the hour-long session and clocked the fastest lap time in one minute and 21.233 seconds as the teams completed their preparations ahead of the afternoon qualifying session.
Hamilton’s double world drivers champion teammate Fernando Alonso, ensured it was a perfect session for the McLaren team when he claimed second fastest, less than a tenth of a second slower than his novice teammate.
The two McLaren’s were followed by the two BMW-Saubers’ of Poland’s Robert Kubica and German Nick Heidfeld who continued the teams impressive early season form.
Veteran British driver David Coulthard produced a morale boosting fifth place finish (running on fumes I bet) for his Red Bull Racing team with a best time of one minute 21.566 seconds
The two Ferrari’s of Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finn Kimi Raikkonen could only manage sixth and seventh fastest respectively.
Massa initially led the timesheets, but had to make do with his disappointing sixth place nearly half a second slower than Hamilton.
Jenson Button had another miserable session for Honda in 17th while Dutchman Christijan Albers - who ended up slowest - was the only driver to go off as he took a gravelly trip at the exit of turn ten, although without any damage to his Spyker.
F1, FIA, Formula One, Sports, Lewis Hamilton, Spanish Grand Prix, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle
Hmmm Massa, three poles in a row & what does he have to show for it? Hamilton has stated he is heavier on fuel than Alonso, hmmm? & Kimi in third is his usual poker face. This could be interesting.
The law of probability says it’s about time for a first corner blunder by somebody. I’m going to place a fiver on Kubica for a posium (3rd) by attrition.