Turkish GP - Progress made, but how much?
Istanbul, 6 May – The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro engineers had a clear plan of action for today’s two free practice sessions: carry out the usual tyre comparison and work on set-up, as well as try out the new aero components introduced on the 150º Italia, namely updated wings front and back and new brake ducts. However, the weather gods had other plans with rain affecting the entire 90 minutes in the morning. This was not all bad news, because although a wet track makes it harder to assess aerodynamic changes, it did provide an opportunity for all the teams and drivers to evaluate the Pirelli rain tyres: that has not happened much this year as rain has been in short supply since the start of winter testing. The sun came out in time to dry the track for the afternoon session in which three times Turkish GP winner Felipe Massa set the sixth fastest time and Fernando Alonso, who was hampered by a hydraulic problem and then had a harmless spin when he was a touch over-optimistic in activating the moveable rear wing, ended up eleventh.
Ever since China, the main F1 topic concerned which teams would make the most progress in the three week break and of course there are no clear answers. On the plus side, both the Ferrari men felt the heavy workload undertaken back at Maranello had produced results. However, it would seem that, of the other front runners, Mercedes might have made big steps, because behind Jenson Button, who set the fastest time for McLaren, comes Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes; these two being the only drivers to drop below the 1m 27s barrier. Behind them come their respective team-mates, with Lewis Hamilton fourth and Michael Schumacher fifth. Mark Webber in the Red Bull was fifth, just ahead of Felipe Massa, but the Australian’s team-mate, reigning world champion and current series leader, Sebastian Vettel, took no part in the afternoon session after badly damaging his Red Bull when he spun off in the morning. There is one more hour of free practice tomorrow morning for the Scuderia to further evaluate its updates and to prepare for the two key moments of the weekend – qualifying and the race.
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (www.ferrari.com)
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