Tuesday, February 01, 2011

GreenBkk.com Formula 1 | Alonso starts with a flourish

Alonso starts with a flourish

Fernando Alonso on his way to the quickest time of the morning © Sutton Images

Fernando Alonso set the early testing pace in Valencia as teams made their first tentative steps towards the eagerly awaited 2011 season.

The morning began with a batch of new car launches, Red Bull, Mercedes and Toro Rosso showing off their latest offerings to the assembled press before the new cars hit the circuit in anger for the first time.

In an understandably low-key session, there was little incident to talk of as teams got to grips with the new Pirelli tyres and experimented with new settings in the wake of the rule changes for the forthcoming season, which include movable rear wings and the return of KERS.

The only on-track incident of the morning occurred when Nico Rosberg stopped his Mercedes W02 out on the circuit. Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel was second quickest despite completing just 19 laps, ahead of the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, Kamui Kobayashi and Gary Paffett.

Pos. Driver Car Best Time Laps
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari F150 1:14.718 46
2. Sebastian vettel Red Bull RB7 1:14.921 19
3. Nico Hulkenberg Force India VJM-03 1:15.615 29
4. Kamu Kobayashi Sauber C30 1:15.831 38
5. Gary Paffett McLaren MP4-25 1:16.256 45
6. Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin MVR-02 1:16.398 32
7. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso STR6 1:18.260 8
8. Narain Karthikeyan HRT F111 1:18.650 22
9. Rubens Barrichello Williams FW32 1:18.714 11
10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes WO2 1:19.930 9

Credit: ESPN F1 (espn.com)

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