Magny-Cours practice 2 ****SPOILER*****

These are the results I like to see, except that last-minute excursion into the gravel by Kimi...

Also, Great job by Speed and Liuzzi!

 

If Ferrari are going to swing the momentum in their favor, this weekend is the time to do it...

 

Based on the number of errors we saw from Alonso, I think it's safe to say that Ferrari has McLaren out of their comfort zone. It will be tough to come back, but it must start now if it's going to happen.

 

...IMO the best indicator comes from the asphalt.

Magny Cours is the most slippery of all!!!...and if we were lacking mechanical grip, the new parts have helped in a great way or the cars tail along with the set-up will be all over the place...

we have re-gained grip...and that is what is been missing for 3 races...no wonder we are fastest with both cars by a good margin.

NOW OR NEVER!!!...charge on!

I hope it doesnt rain...we need a 1-2 and at least a DNF by McLaren...

 

GO SPEED GO !

 

Good to see Ferrari on top, even if it is practice. Judging by the off road excursions I do not think Alonso was sandbagging. It is also good to see the Ferrari powered Toro Rosso cars up there If it rains all this is meaningless!

 

I hope the Macs finish, just in 9 and 10th place It would be great to get BMW and Ferrari closer to the top to have a three way battle.

 

That could be an awesome headline "Ferraris are barely ahead of STRs"

 

Well therein lies the problem: How serious should we take these times in which Scott Speed is 3rd?

I'm looking at it from a McLaren perspective: They have a 20 point lead and now the game changed: Don't go for flat out wins anymore, but bring the car and 8 points home.

 

Didn't Scott Speess pass KR in Canada ?

I agree McLaren likely will play it safe this weekend.

 

glad to see Ferrari back on top. gives us a bit of hope here. i think it'll be a Ferrari win.

 

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:15.453
2 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:15.488 0.035
3 19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari 1:15.773 0.320
4 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.780 0.327
5 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari 1:15.952 0.499

6 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:15.958 0.505
7 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:16.003 0.550

8 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.049 0.596

9 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:16.162 0.709
10 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:16.184 0.731
11 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:16.205 0.752
12 10 Robert Kubica BMW 1:16.236 0.783
13 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:16.260 0.807
14 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:16.285 0.832
15 7 Jenson Button Honda 1:16.395 0.942
16 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:16.562 1.109
17 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:16.735 1.282
18 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:16.950 1.497
19 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:16.968 1.515
20 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.165 1.712
21 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.213 2.760
22 21 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.708 3.255

 

How the heck did Scott Speed end up ahead of the McLarens? I know is only practice...but I think the world as I knew just ended....

 

Just goes to show how meaningless these times really are.

McLaren is sandbagging and TR is running on fumes.

 

If I remember correctly, in most every previous race, the McLarens were always at the top of the charts in practice. The one that usually sandbagged was Massa, then except for race #1 at qualifying his Ferrari was either on pole or just behind a McLaren.

There is a psychological effect of being at the top even in practice. I am not so sure that this time McLaren is sandbagging. Qualifying will tell, but for now I think it possible that the new pieces on SF are really working and Phil and Kimi just wanted to throw down their gauntlet.

And I noticed that Phil is still faster.

 

i just saw some pics..why aren't Ferrari using that brake cooling device they tested last week?

 

You can pump your fist like a madman and wave your <deleted>at the camera while racking up maximum points but as soon as a slip occurs, run to the shop and start doing your job like you're in last place. Any wasting of points is a sin you'll never be freed from.

 

True. OTOH Ferrari risks a lot by going flat out. We've seen the consequences of that in Suzuka last year.

 

A version of that is said everty week, but the truth is practicing driving slow doesn't really help the teams any.

They are all trying to get there cars set-up properly for the race, and sure they may very well be quicker in qualifying one they get done trying all the variables and plug it into the computer to see what the optimal setings should be...but I don't realy thing I beieve that practice times are meaningless.

 

Practice times are not meaningless. Problem is, we don't have the data to know what went on. So I agree with you, McLaren isn't sandbagging and deliberately driving slow. What they are doing however is working on setups for the race. And since we don't know how much fuel they carry, the times to us are meaningless.

 

Back pain puts Heidfeld in doubt for French Grand Prix

BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld could miss Sunday's race at Magny-Cours, after complaining of back pain during Friday’s practice sessions for the French Grand Prix. Heidfeld aggravated an injury sustained in recent testing at Silverstone.

“I stopped early because I wanted to save my back,” said Heidfeld. “Last week at the Silverstone test I had some problems. I can still feel it and as a precaution I want to have it checked today."

He is being examined at the Centre Hopitalier Pierre Beregovoy in Nevers. A decision must be taken tonight and put before the race stewards ahead of practice on Saturday, if BMW Sauber decide that they need to use reserve driver Sebastian Vettel for the second race in succession.

Vettel stood in for Heidfeld’s team mate, Robert Kubica, at the last round at Indianapolis while the Polish driver rested following his Canada crash.

 

Alonso expects McLaren to improve its pace over the French Grand Prix weekend after being shaded by Ferrari on the opening practice day at Magny-Cours.

The Spaniard remains unconcerned by the gap to Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, which in his case was as much as 0.5s, adding that cooler-than-expected temperatures on Friday had not helped the team's cause.

"We managed to complete our programme, and we have a good understanding of the Bridgestone Potenza tyres characteristics in these cooler than expected temperatures," he said.

"We could have been faster today, and there is still a little bit of work to do tomorrow on the set-up.

"However I think we will be stronger over the weekend than we appear today and so I am not too worried about the results so far."

 

For a guy who's contstantly stating I'm a Tifosi I don't care which one wins as long as it's a Ferrari you sure do seem to care that it's Massa on top.

FWIW Massa and Kimi are about as even-steven as it gets so far. That is until the rain comes. Then we'll see how well Massa does.

Practice 1

Pos...Driver............Time.......Gap
1...Kimi Raikkonen..1:15.382
2...Felipe Massa....1:15.447__0.065

Practice 2

1...Felipe Massa....1:15.453
2...Kimi Raikkonen..1:15.488__0.035

 

0.035s separating the pair at the end of the day, having spent most of the 90 minutes trading blows in search of superiority lets hope this infighting keeps up its working for mclaren