Formula One: Friday Practice Analysis- Red Bull sets the best pace
The fifteenth race of the season is all set to unfold amidst a lot of thrill and jubilation at the lively and festive island of Singapore. Last night saw the first two practice sessions at the much demanding and tricky track of Marina Bay.
This year marks the third race on this newly built track, yet the anticipation and excitement is just as much as was seen at its debut race. All the drivers and teams are ready to give in their best this weekend not only because this brutal arena hosts the
only night race of Formula One calendar but also because the season is at the verge of deciding the Champion of 2010 season as only five races are left.
After witnessing a vicious circus of cars on Friday night, here is some analysis for the prominent teams of the season:
Red Bull
The two team drivers were seen fleeing on the track last night. They raced like lightening on the illuminated track of Marina Bay shortly after it was washed by heavy showers and storm.
Their pace was of course threatening for their competitors as there were a lot of speculations that the team has brought some changes in the front wing of their car in order to pass strict FIA tests. It was hoped by their rivals that these modifications
would lower their speed; however, the team stood proud once again declaring them selves to be fastest even after passing the severe check.
Ferrari
Although the team was not able to demonstrate quickest laps and also Fernando Alonso had a tough time yet looking closely at their pace of individual laps, one can easily come to the conclusion that they are still fast enough to claim the top slots.
Alonso gave a poor show at the turn 18 as he went off the road. While talking about the incident he said, “It's a shame, because I lost the final twenty minutes of the session, the part when I was due to run with a heavy fuel load.”
However, the Friday practice can witness such things as many experiments and tests are run at this time of the race weekend, even tests for next year’s car are carried on Friday practice.
The team still seems very hopeful and optimistic, also their closest competitors are well aware of their potential as Webber pronounced his fear saying,
“Ferrari still look quick and anyone can be on pole tomorrow, us, Ferrari or McLaren, we just keep trying to do our best.”
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton ended his first session at eighteenth place, while second at fifth place. On the other hand, his teammate Jenson Button wrapped up the sessions at sixth and third places respectively. The results might not declare them the fastest on the track
but still one knows they were good enough.
The team’s car performed pretty poor at other high-downforce tracks earlier this year therefore some significant changes were made to it for this race, which means that these practices were much of a test of the modifications, for which the team seems satisfied
.
Moreover, the practice sessions have never been a strong side of the team drivers all through the season, as they have shown far better pace on final race days. So, be prepared as McLaren knows how to pull rabbits out of the hat when they need one.
The other strong drivers seen in practice were Robert Kubica of Renault, as he ended both the sessions at ninth place. Moreover, Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg are also in good form and are expected to bag some good points.
However, today’s practice and then the qualifying later would give a more clear image of what could be seen tomorrow at the third Singapore Grand Prix.
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