Free practice session one of 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix finished in Sepang – Formula 1 news
Free Practice session one of 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix took place at the Sepang circuit on April 8, 2011.
All Formula 1 teams participated in the practice session and made good runs under the unclear weather conditions.
Red Bull driver Mark Webber, who started his 2011 season with a disappointment, has bounced back from his poor Melbourne race to dominate an eventual opening practice session for the Sepang race.
He completed 22 laps with a best time of 1 minute and 37.651 seconds for the team. With his best practice session, Webber showed his high motivation for this weekend. He was followed closely by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who finished 16 laps behind Webber.
Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher also managed his good run in the final minutes of the Malaysian practice session and completed 29 laps for the team. Nico Hulkenberg made an impressive run for the Force India team, while Pastor Maldonado was a strong fifth
fastest of the session. He completed 19 laps for Williams and posted his best run on his primary Pirelli tyres.
Both drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso failed to deliver their best practice session for Ferrari. Due to driving in and out of the pits without setting a time and concentrating on aerodynamic evaluation tests, they finished their runs in sixth and
ninth places respectively.
On the seventh place was Renault’s Nick Heidfeld, who looked very strong initially and setting the early pace of the team, but after passing some time he was found with a dramatic front-right brake failure and could only manage 6 laps for the team.
Heidfeld’s teammate Vitaly Petrov suffered a catastrophic problem under braking for turn 9 relating to his left-front wheel. He completed only 4 laps for his team.
Other than Petrov, Virgin rookie Jerome d’Ambrosio also suffered with a front-left suspension failure under braking for the last corner of the race circuit.
Pirelli tyre wear was another issue more than it had in Melbourne race, with a significant marbling.
All drivers effectively ended their season’s second practice session in Malaysia. The second practice session will take place later in the day.
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