The pointless Saturday morning practice session at Suzuka (Part 1)
The practice session began in uncertain conditions with the cars not willing to go out as much as they usually do on a Saturday practice session.
Alguersuari was the first one out, joined by Lucas di Grassi, Sakon Yamamoto, Timo Glock and Bruno Senna. The cars were touring the track on full wet tyres.
Massa came out near the 3 min marker in his Ferrari, gingerly checking out the conditions on full wet tyres.Kobayashi was struggling to get the power down in his Sauber as he completed his installation lap near the 5min marker. Nine drivers made it around
the circuit and Barrichello was the 10th driver to complete an installation lap. Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher decided to return to the pits, after a successful navigation as their cars went around Suzuka as the rain continued to fall steadily.
After 8 minutes in to the session, Di Grassi told his team that the conditions were very difficult and he was concerned about aquaplaning. Alonso wrapped up his first slow tour while Button came out of the pits to speculate the conditions in his McLaren.
Vitaly Petrov and Jarno Trulli decided to hit the track for a gentle installation lap. Kamui Kobayashi was also concerned about aquaplaning as he reported his team about it. Adrian Sutil came out of the pits on the circuit after 10mins in to the session
for an installation lap. He was understandably on full wet tyres and returned to the pits.
Jenson Button continued to race for a second lap in his McLaren and pushed a bit more on this tour before coming back to the pits, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton was getting ready to head out after a disappointing Friday.
The team engineers were studying the data in the pits after the installation laps, while on the pit wall the team managers were keeping an eye out on the weather radar. Robert Kubica came back to returned to the pits after that near the 13min marker after
a silent installation lap. Meanwhile, Timo Glock led the Virgins out of the pits.
The radar showed that the rain intensity would stay the same until the end of the session. Heavy storms continue to pack in behind the rain that is currently falling over the circuit. Timo Glock looped around at the Spoon corner, as there was a useful run-off
to the outside before he got back.
It seemed more like a shootout rather than a practice session by the 15-minute marker as it seemed that the teams were not concerned about the times at all and just wanted to speculate some results after evaluation the track conditions.
Glock noticed that the rain increased as compared to his last run, toured the track slowly and struggled to stay on the road.Nico Hulkenberg joined the racetrack in his Williams for the first time, while many of the drivers seemed quite content to watch
the action from the safety of the garages rather than go out on track.
Glock warned his team that he wanted to return to the pits due to the aquaplaning. Hulkenberg got enough of the conditions before bringing his Williams back into the pits after a second single tour of the circuit.
Jaime Alguersuari decided to have a go after evaluating the conditions by 18-minute marker and encountered a lot of standing water in the first sector through the S Curve and round Dunlop Curve.
Alguersuari crossed the line to begin the first timed lap of the session. He reported on the team radio that he was experiencing a huge amount of aquaplaning during these two laps. This was becoming a huge problem for the teams, as there was a lot of aquaplaning
on the track.
Robert Kubica checked the view across the pit lane and it was quite clear that he did not want to go on the track. With over 20 minutes in to the session, McLaren reported that the parts the team rushed over for Hamilton's car have arrived in the garage
and the team fitted them to his McLaren before Hamilton came out on track moments later.
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