Jenson Button tops the timesheets in FP3 of 2012 European Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
McLaren driver Jenson Button has topped the timesheets in the third free practice session of 2012 European Grand Prix which is to be held at Valencia Street Circuit in Spain on June 24.
Button, who has been struggling with the setup of MP4-27 in the last four races, set the best time of 1 minute and 38.562 seconds and finally seemed comfortable behind the wheel.
The British driver was followed by Romain Grosjean of Lotus who with his fastest time of 1 minute and 38.655 seconds came second in the timesheets and stayed ahead of his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen.
Raikkonen remained ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Force India who set his quickest time of 1 minute and 38.819 seconds and was followed by his teammate, Paul di Resta.
Sergio Perez of Sauber came 6th in the timesheets with his quickest lap time of 1 minute and 39.084 seconds. Moreover, he completed 20 laps and stayed ahead of Michael Schumacher of Mercedes who set the 7th best time of 1 minute and
39.141 seconds.
The seven-time world champion was followed by Lewis Hamilton of McLaren who struggled with the setup of the car and the tyre management.
Hamilton remained ahead of Felipe Massa of Ferrari who covered 15 laps and set the 9th fastest time of 1 minute and 39.318 seconds. Furthermore, the Brazilian driver seemed contended with the new updates which included some alterations in the
aerodynamics and slight changes in the floor.
Massa was followed by Pastor Maldonado of Williams who completed 18 laps and remained ahead of Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber.
Fernando Alonso of Ferrari set the 12th best time of 1 minute and 39.395 seconds and stayed ahead of the defending champion, Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing.
Bruno Senna of Williams came 14th in the timesheets with his quickest time of 1 minute and 39.543 seconds and was followed by Nico Rosberg of Mercedes. Meanwhile, the German driver remained ahead of Toro Rosso pair of drivers, Jean-Eric Vergne
and Daniel Ricciardo.
Heikki Kovalainen of Caterham set the 18th best time and was followed by Mark Webber of Red Bull who faced issue in his car’s brake and could not set a competitive time. Additionally, he only covered 4 laps and stayed ahead of Kovalainen’s teammate,
Vitaly Petrov.
Pedro de la Rosa of HRT came 21st in the timesheets with his best time of 1 minute and 42.758 seconds and was followed by Charles Pic of Marussia.
It will be important to mention that weather conditions are going to play an important role in the qualifying of the European GP. Over and above, it will be interesting to see how all the contenders perform in the forthcoming race.
Tags: