Saturday June 6, 2009
Heikki tops the chart
Brawn driver and F1 leader Button trails in 12th position
MCLAREN’S Heikki Kovalainen enjoyed a rare afternoon at the top of the timesheets in yesterday’s free practice for the Turkish Grand Prix.
The Finn lapped with a best time of 1:28.841, just 0.006 faster than Renault’s double world champion Fernando Alonso, in the afternoon session at the Istanbul Park circuit.
The top 16 cars were separated by less than 0.8 of a second.
Williams’ Nico Rosberg, preparing for his 60th Formula One start tomorrow, was quickest in the morning in 1:28.952 — the third best time of the day overall.
Easy rider: Brawn’s Jenson Button steers his car during the second free practice ahead of the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at the Istanbul Park circuit on Friday. — AP The German has now been quickest in 10 of the season’s 19 practice sessions while failing to finish any higher than sixth in the six races.
“We just run less fuel than everybody else,” he had told reporters earlier when asked about the discrepancy between practice and race results.
“We look quicker than we are, so it’s not important at all. We just do it because it’s the best way for us to prepare for our weekend.”
McLaren’s world champion Lewis Hamilton was second fastest in the morning but only 13th after lunch.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, tipped by many to end championship leader Jenson Button’s run of three wins in a row this weekend, was fourth and fifth in the two sessions but was halted by a mechanical problem in the afternoon.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, winner in Istanbul for the past three years from pole position, was fifth in the morning.
Button, winner of five of the six races so far, had a low-key start with the Mercedes-powered team working through their own pre-race programme.
The morning session was briefly red-flagged for repairs to the astroturf lining the kerbs after it was ripped up by some drivers running wide. There was no repeat of the problem in the afternoon. — Reuters
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