Formula One: Red Bulls remain dominant in Third Silverstone Practice Session, Vettel on top
In the third pre-race practice session a while ago, Red Bull improved on their Friday practices as both Vettel and Webber grabbed the top two positions and were barely separable from each other. Vettel set the fastest time of the session at 1m 30.958s, 15 minutes before the close of session and no one was able to challenge the top spot.
Mark Webber, earlier in the session, completed a few relaxed laps and was placed well below in the standings. In his final run at the end of the session, he set the second fastest time, a negligible 0.034s off his teammate. However, all was not rosy for Red Bull today as Vettel, looking to better his time with a final lap, ran through Abbey and his nose dropped down. As Vettel went over the bumps he lost all down force and his front wing scrapped the track. It wasn’t a lot of damage but it’s still very concerning for the Red Bull team who have to appear in qualifying shortly.
While all the drivers and engineers were looking forward to Silverstone 24 hours ago, some have been hugely disappointed after the practice sessions. Vettel, who was expecting a smooth run on the new circuit, is extremely concerned about the bumps and believes it’s a problem for all drivers.
Ferrari pulled another satisfactory performance as Alonso was classified as third fastest at 1m 31.101s. The Spaniard even beat Vettel’s time to go to the top before Vettel set another fastest time. Massa also gave Ferrari some hope with his pace. He joined behind Alonso with a 1m 31.240s before Nico Rosberg went faster by 0.052s right at the end. Kubica claimed sixth position with 1m 31.519s.
Kubica was another driver who did not hesitate to share his views on the new circuit. He said that the track is bumpy and slippery and is less challenging. He said some of the very nice sections of the circuit have been removed and the loop is slower. Despite the addition of some fast corners, Kubica believes that the track is not as quick and fun as it was in the past.
Saturday practice proved to be another disappointment for McLaren who, despite having removed the exhaust blown diffuser, are still struggling for pace. Lewis Hamilton managed a fastest time of 1m 31.549s in his 15 laps while 12th position was the best Jenson could do at 1m 31.703s. Both drivers are having problems with or without the exhaust upgrades and both ran wide in all practice sessions at various locations on the circuit. McLaren engineers have a lot of work before the qualifying if they are to bring smiles to the home fans.
Schumacher was 2nd fastest for Mercedes and this session turned out to be a further improvement for the Mercedes team with 4th and 8th positions.
Pedro de la Rosa was almost as quick as Schumacher with 0.004s to separate the two. Rubens Barrichello wasn’t far behind in the tenth place with 1m 31.581s. Petrov managed 11th position in his Renault at 1m 31.698s. The next three drivers to finish in 1m 31s were Hulkenberg, Kobayashi and Sutil who secured 13th, 14th and 15th places respectively.
The two Toro Rosso’s of Buemi and Alguersuari and Luizzi’s Force India were the only three cars that managed somewhat competitive times in 1m and 32s.
Heikki Kovalainen, who was a bit off the pace, lapped his quickest at 1m 34.339s but he too had concerns about the circuit and was extremely disappointed. He was of the view that removing Bridge and Priory corners was not a good decision and said that the new circuit is nothing exciting. He further said that it remains to be seen in the race whether overtaking opportunities have increased or not.
The last five drivers were di Grassi, Trulli, Chandhok, Glock and Yamamoto and set their times between 1m 35s to 1m 37s.
With three practices already over, there is absolutely no doubt that Red Bull will run away with pole position once again. Ferrari in third place would be a very safe bet while McLarens are expected to fight Mercedes and Renault for grid positions.
Would Red Bull be in a good position to retake the championship lead? Would Ferrari confirm their competitiveness? Would the championship leaders disappoint the home crowd? We will have all our answers in about two hours!
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