Malaysian Grand Prix Free Practice- Mark Webber shows pace, Sebastian Vettel suffers
Red Bull’s duo, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, have shown some contradictory results during the first session of Free Practice (FP1) at Sepang.
Mark Webber, who struggled for pace in Melbourne, was out in front and completed 22 laps while Vettel finished 17th after 18 laps in his RB7, almost 4 seconds slower than Webber.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was in second place almost 1.665 off the pace from Webber.
Hamilton’s teammate, Jenson Button, was back on the grid in 15th spot and could only complete 16 laps. Button said very early in his outing that he had some issues with the grip of his tyres in the hot and humid conditions of Malaysia.
Third was seven-time world champion and Mercedes driver, Michael Schumacher. Schumi completed 29 laps and was almost 2 seconds slower than Webber. The important thing in Schumi’s run was that he didn’t face any reliability problems. Schumi’s teammate, Nico
Rosberg, also didn’t face any problems and finished 10th.
Fourth was Force India’s test driver, Nico Hulkenberg, who showed some pace in his VJM-04. Adrian Sutil, of Force India finished 11th after 21 laps.
Williams’ rookie from Venezuela, Pastor Maldonado, showed some pace in his Cosworth powered machine. Pastor managed 31 laps in FP1 and ended fifth. Other Williams’driver, Rubens Barrichello, finished eighth.
Ferrari’s duo, Felipe Massa, and, Fernando Alonso, were sixth and ninth in FP1. Although both Ferraris were well off the pace, they got to know the track.
Renault’s duo, Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov, promised lots of speed in Malaysia but faced a brake failure problem after which, they both retired. Heidfeld showed some speed in the early session and ended 7th with only six laps, while Melbourne’s
podium finisher, Petrov, finished in 24th place after only 4 laps.
Toro Rosso’s duo, Daniel Ricciardo, and, Jaime Alguersuari, finished 12th and 13th. Sauber’s duo, Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, ended in 14th and 18th position. Davide Valsecchi was tested by the Lotus team
as he finished in 21st position, almost 6 seconds off the pace than Webber.
The Virgin and Hispania Racing Team (HRT) were slow in their Cosworth machines but completed some laps to end FP1 in a handsome position.
The second session of Free Practice will begin on the following day.
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