Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix: 13 May 2007
-
Lap Distance: 4.6290km
Number of Laps: 66
The track is often used for testing, so there is no lack of data for the teams. The technical nature calls for a high downforce set-up, wind direction changes are particularly pronouced and the cars with the best aerodynamic efficiency excel here.
It is not unusual to find team-mates much more evenly matched here. Overtaking is difficult, but not impossible, though the addition of a chicane prior to the last corner may alter the situation this year. The races seldom produced much excitement, until Fernando Alonso's recent rise to stardom. Being the home hero and a Catalan too, expect supporters turn up in droves on raceday.
Michael Schumacher scored his maiden Ferrari victory here in 1996 in atrocious conditions. He also took victory in 2001 after Mika Häkkinen's McLaren expried on the last lap of the race, ending the latter's run of victories at the track since 1998.
Alonso is the defending winner of this race and is tied for the lead of this year's championship with Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton. David Coulthard set the unofficial lap record for the circuit's new layout (1:21.066) during testing last week. -
Spanish GP free practice session 1 (Friday)
1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m21.880s
2. ALONSO McLaren 1m22.268s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m22.291s
4. KUBICA BMW 1m22.446s
5. MASSA Ferrari 1m22.565s
6. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m22.665s
7. TRULLI Toyota 1m22.740s
8. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m22.843s
9. ROSBERG Williams 1m23.048s
10. BUTTON Honda 1m23.114s
11. WURZ Williams 1m23.131s
12. HEIDFELD BMW 1m23.170s
13. SATO Super Aguri 1m23.316s
14. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m23.322s
15. FISICHELLA Renault 1m23.397s
16. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m23.428s
17. WEBBER Red Bull 1m23.444s
18. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m23.479s
19. SUTIL Spyker 1m23.954s
20. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m24.104s
21. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m24.179s
22. ALBERS Spyker 1m24.396s
Practice 1: Hamilton heads McLaren 1-2
Lewis Hamilton fired the opening salvo as practice for the Spanish Grand Prix got underway on Friday, heading a McLaren 1-2 at the top of the timesheet.
Fernando Alonso held sway for most of the 90-minute session but Hamilton got the upper hand at the one-hour mark, pipping his world champion team-mate by 0.1s.
The British rookie later increased his margin to nearly 0.4s with a soft-tyre run at the end of the session, clocking a best time of 1m21.880s.
The Ferraris remained in the garage for the first half of the session and werenÂ’t quite able to match McLaren on the stopwatch.
Kimi Raikkonen finished third fastest, 0.4s adrift of Hamilton, while team-mate Felipe Massa was demoted to fifth in the dying minutes by BMW SauberÂ’s Robert Kubica.
Anthony Davidson vaulted up the timing charts with a couple of minutes to spare to finish sixth for Super Aguri, continuing his run of remarkable practice performances.
Toyota looks stronger here in Barcelona than at any other race this year.
Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher set the pace in the first part of the session and wound up a respectable seventh and eighth respectively once the top teams had shown their hand.
Nico Rosberg was ninth quickest for Williams, while Jenson ButtonÂ’s weekend started on a mildly encouraging note as he rounded out the top 10.
Renault made little impression on the session and could manage only 14th and 15th places, Heikki Kovalainen marginally quicker than Giancarlo Fisichella.
The session was largely incident-free apart from a spin for David Coulthard and a ragged moment for Takuma Sato at the new complex at the end of the lap. -
TIme for kimi and alonso to step up after their recent slump
-
Practice 2
Results:
1. ALONSO McLaren 1m21.397s
2. FISICHELLA Renault 1m21.684s
3. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m21.966s
4. MASSA Ferrari 1m22.048s
5. HAMILTON McLaren 1m22.188s
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m22.251s
7. ROSBERG Williams 1m22.415s
8. HEIDFELD BMW 1m22.543s
9. WEBBER Red Bull 1m22.589s
10. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m22.617s
11. KUBICA BMW 1m22.710s
12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m22.719s
13. BUTTON Honda 1m22.808s
14. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m22.926s
15. WURZ Williams 1m22.950s
16. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m23.143s
17. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m23.219s
18. TRULLI Toyota 1m23.307s
19. SATO Super Aguri 1m23.493s
20. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m23.497s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m23.609s
22. ALBERS Spyker 1m23.736s
Report:
Alonso thrills home fans
McLarenÂ’s Fernando Alonso thrilled the partisan Spanish crowd by dominating Friday afternoonÂ’s practice at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The world champion moved to the top of the timing charts a third of the way through the 90-minute session and was never seriously threatened.
There was a late surprise, however, as Renault duo Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen vaulted up the order to second and third respectively – by far the best showing from the embattled world champion squad so far this season.
Kovalainen might well have beaten Fisichella had he not spun at turn 13 on his final lap; as it was, Giancarlo finished 0.3s behind Alonso with Heikki a further three-tenths adrift.
RenaultÂ’s late surge demoted Felipe Massa to fourth place in the lead Ferrari, ahead of Lewis HamiltonÂ’s McLaren and the second F2007 of Kimi Raikkonen.
As had been the case in the morning, McLaren took control of the proceedings early on and never relinquished it.
AlonsoÂ’s time put him nearly 0.8s clear of his nearest challenger until the last-minute scramble.
The Spaniard will have been pleased to reassert his authority over Hamilton after giving best to his rookie team-mate in the opening session.
Lewis blew his chances of a late improvement with a trip across the grass at the first corner on his last run, but for much of the session he had been second only to Alonso.
Massa ultimately beat Hamilton to fourth, having made a pair of mistakes at turn 10 on his previous efforts, while Raikkonen ended up sixth.
All the indications are that the midfield battle will be as tight as ever this weekend.
Nico Rosberg was an encouraging seventh fastest for Williams ahead of Nick HeidfeldÂ’s BMW Sauber, Mark WebberÂ’s Red Bull and the Toro Rosso of Scott Speed - the American having been as high as second early on. -
Spanish GP free practice session 3 (Saturday)
1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m21.233s
2. ALONSO McLaren 1m21.312s
3. KUBICA BMW 1m21.364s
4. HEIDFELD BMW 1m21.464s
5. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m21.556s
6. MASSA Ferrari 1m21.659s
7. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m21.829s
8. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m21.845s
9. ROSBERG Williams 1m21.953s
10. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m22.067s
11. FISICHELLA Renault 1m22.140s
12. TRULLI Toyota 1m22.174s
13. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m22.274s
14. SATO Super Aguri 1m22.295s
15. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m22.314s
16. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m22.570s
17. BUTTON Honda 1m22.744s
18. WEBBER Red Bull 1m22.759s
19. WURZ Williams 1m23.020s
20. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m23.367s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m23.584s
22. ALBERS Spyker 1m23.817s
Lewis Hamilton set himself up for a crack at pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix by topping the times in final practice on Saturday morning.
The 22-year-old rookie pipped team-mate Fernando Alonso by 0.079s as McLaren maintained its narrow advantage from Friday.
Remarkably, it was the third time in his four grand prix outings to date that Hamilton has been fastest in Saturday practice.
For most of the session Ferrari ran the silver cars closest, but Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen slipped back to sixth and seventh amid the usual frantic scramble in the last few minutes of the session.
The two BMW Sauber drivers made big improvements at the end to slot into third and fourth places, Robert Kubica edging out Nick Heidfeld and finishing just 0.131s behind Hamilton.
The surprise of the session was David Coulthard, who hauled his Red Bull up to fifth.
Massa was the first of the big hitters to set a benchmark, going fastest with a 1m22.214s after 20 minutes.
He was immediately unseated by Alonso, who managed a 1m22.178s and then a 1m21.893s – to the cheers of the expectant Spanish crowd.
But Ferrari soon fired back as first Raikkonen shaved a few thousandths off AlonsoÂ’s time and then Massa moved the bar to 1m21.672s.
With a little over 20 minutes remaining, Hamilton took on a set of soft-compound tyres and upped the ante to 1m21.233s, which would stand as the fastest time of the hour.
Aside from the BMWs and Coulthard, Anthony Davidson was the other big mover in the dying minutes – continuing his run of impressive Saturday practice performances.
The Super Aguri driver finished eighth quickest ahead of the Williams of Nico Rosberg and Renault duo Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella.
Jenson Button was mired down in 17th, four places behind his Honda team-mate Rubens Barrichello.
Scott Speed went well early in the session but ultimately had to settle for 15th in the lead Toro Rosso entry. -
Qualifying starting in an hours time...
-
Massa is on pole for the third time this season, by 3 hundredths of a second.
1. MASSA Ferrari 1m21.421s
2. ALONSO McLaren 1m21.451s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m21.723s
4. HAMILTON McLaren 1m21.785s
5. KUBICA BMW 1m22.253s
6. TRULLI Toyota 1m22.324s
7. HEIDFELD BMW 1m22.389s
8. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m22.508s
9. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m22.749s
10. FISICHELLA Renault 1m22.881s
11. ROSBERG Williams 1m21.968s
12. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m22.097s
13. SATO Super Aguri 1m22.115s
14. BUTTON Honda 1m22.120s
15. DAVIDSON Super Aguri No time
16. LIUZZI Toro Rosso No time
17. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m22.666s
18. WURZ Williams 1m22.769s
19. WEBBER Red Bull 1m23.398s
20. SUTIL Spyker 1m23.811s
21. ALBERS Spyker 1m23.990s
22. SPEED Toro Rosso No time -
Massa spoils Alonso's Spanish party
Qualifying 1
Lewis Hamilton got his bid for a first career pole position off to the perfect start by topping the first knock-out qualifying session at the Circuit de Catalunya.
But Ferrari's Felipe Massa got within a quarter of a second despite a ragged moment under braking on his fastest lap – suggesting the Maranello squad is ready to do battle with McLaren this afternoon.
Home hero Fernando Alonso was third fastest ahead of Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) and Heikki Kovalainen (Renault).
Both Super Aguris comfortably made it through to Q2 but there were several surprises among those who missed the cut.
These included Toyota's Ralf Schumacher and Williams' Alex Wurz, as well as Red Bull's Mark Webber.
The Australian's RB3 was struck by a suspected hydraulic problem, while Scott Speed (who had shown well hitherto this weekend) was sidelined by transmission gremlins.
Drivers knocked out: Ralf Schumacher, Alex Wurz, Mark Webber, Adrian Sutil, Christijan Albers, Scott Speed
Qualifying 2
Ferrari brought a halt to McLaren's dominance of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in second qualifying, as Felipe Massa set the pace and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished third fastest.
Delivering on the potential he had shown in Q1, Massa edged out McLaren pacesetter Lewis Hamilton by just over 0.1s.
Fernando Alonso was shuffled back to fourth place, precisely 0.2s shy of Massa's time.
Next up were the BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, ahead of Red Bull's David Coulthard who made it through to the top-10 shoot-out for the first time this season.
Jarno Trulli (Toyota) and the two Renaults were the others to make the cut, while Nico Rosberg (Williams) missed out by 0.3s.
Super Aguri had a nightmare session, as Takuma Sato ground to a halt with a technical problem and Anthony Davidson had a pair of off-course excursions.
Drivers knocked out: Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Takuma Sato, Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson, Vitantonio Liuzzi
Qualifying 3 (Pole Shootout)
Felipe Massa shattered the dreams of the huge Spanish crowd at Barcelona on Saturday by denying Fernando Alonso pole position for his home grand prix.
The Brazilian produced a superb final lap to beat Alonso's benchmark time by an infinitesimal three-hundredths of a second and claim a remarkable third straight pole.
Q3 built up to a thrilling climax as the four big hitters from Ferrari and McLaren went head-to-head.
Alonso had been fastest during the fuel-burning phase and he lived up to that with his first hot lap, eliciting a raucous cheer from the grandstands as he clocked a 1m21.661s.
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton was first out for his final run but was unable to match Alonso's benchmark despite a tidy and committed lap.
That and Lewis' comments afterwards suggested that Alonso was carrying less fuel and was on an aggressive strategy in a bid to snatch pole.
The ploy looked like working when Kimi Raikkonen could manage only a 1m21.723s, splitting the McLarens.
But then Massa uncorked a stunning 1m21.421 to knock Alonso off the top spot. Try as he certainly did, the world champion couldn't quite match that on his final flier.
Robert Kubica took fifth on the grid for BMW Sauber, while qualifying specialist Jarno Trulli demoted the other F1.07 of Nick Heidfeld to seventh.
Heikki Kovalainen, David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella rounded out the top 10. -
Looks like everything except the first post preview was taken from ITV-F1.com.
-
Kimi retired from the race, damit~
-
DC nearly crashes into Liuzzi entering pit lane. Liuzzi retired. Button crashes into Barrichello exiting pit lane, now in pit lane repairing.Originally posted by sand king:Kimi retired from the race, damit~ -
haha, Scott speed's rear tire exploded, are we gona see more? haha i think if more tires explode... BS better have a good explanationOriginally posted by SBS9806J:DC nearly crashes into Liuzzi entering pit lane. Liuzzi retired. Button front wing-less. -
This is one of the livier Catalan races I've seen.
Spanish Grand Prix result (66 laps)
1. MASSA Ferrari 66 laps
2. HAMILTON McLaren +6.790s
3. ALONSO McLaren +17.456s
4. KUBICA BMW +31.615s
5. COULTHARD Red Bull +58.331s
6. ROSBERG Williams +59.538s
7. KOVALAINEN Renault +1m02.128s
8. SATO Super Aguri +1 lap
9. FISICHELLA Renault +1 lap
10. BARRICHELLO Honda +1 lap
11. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +1 lap
12. BUTTON Honda +1 lap
13. SUTIL Spyker +2 laps
14. ALBERS Spyker +2 laps
R. HEIDFELD BMW +18 laps
R. SCHUMACHER Toyota +20 laps
R. LIUZZI Toro Rosso +45 laps
R. SPEED Toro Rosso +55 laps
R. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +55 laps
R. TRULLI Toyota +56 laps
R. WEBBER Red Bull +57 laps
R. WURZ Williams +62 laps
Fastest lap: MASSA 1m22.680s (lap 14) -
Wahaha, SA got hteir first points of the campaign. Honda is still languishing.
-
Originally posted by iveco:Wahaha, SA got hteir first points of the campaign. Honda is still languishing.
-
der was not much of a battle in the front pack except for the start... the midpack ws entertaining especially with almost all teams in contention for championship points... dunno wat happened to the pits yesterday... oil rig twice had problems, massa leaking oil and both renaults not getting enough fuel
-
Heidfeld alsoOriginally posted by SBS9828X:der was not much of a battle in the front pack except for the start... the midpack ws entertaining especially with almost all teams in contention for championship points... dunno wat happened to the pits yesterday... oil rig twice had problems, massa leaking oil and both renaults not getting enough fuel -
Drivers' standings:
Pos Driver Nationality Team Points
1 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 30
2 Fernando Alonso Spanish McLaren-Mercedes 28
3 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 27
4 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Ferrari 22
5 Nick Heidfeld German BMW 15
6 Robert Kubica Polish BMW 8
6= Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Renault 8
8 Nico Rosberg German Williams-Toyota 5
9 David Coulthard British Red Bull-Renault 4
9= Jarno Trulli Italian Toyota 4
11 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Renault 3
12 Takuma Sato Japanese Super Aguri-Honda 1
12= Ralf Schumacher German Toyota 1
Constructors's standings:
Pos Constructor Points
1 McLaren-Mercedes 58
2 Ferrari 49
3 BMW 23
4 Renault 11
5 Williams-Toyota 5
5= Toyota 5
7 Red Bull-Renault 4
8 Super Aguri-Honda 1
9 Honda 0
9= Spyker-Ferrari 0
9= STR-Ferrari 0