F1 2009 - Race 9 - German Grand Pix

Formula One news: Hamilton tops timesheets in second practice - GPUpdate.net Formula One

Lewis Hamilton has finished Friday on top by claiming the quickest lap time in afternoon practice at the Nürburgring. The World Champion beat second-placed Sebastian Vettel, who recovered from an earlier stoppage, by almost two tenths of a second with Jenson Button and Mark Webber next up in a rain-interrupted session.

After being classified thirteenth in the morning's first one and a half hour session of the day, Hamilton's McLaren jumped up to the top spot with a best effort of 1.32.149 at a cool and dull Nürburgring. The session was split up by rain, however, as the drivers made use of Intermediate tyres for small numbers of laps in order to gain data incase such weather should hit the circuit over the weekend.

The session started with a bang, however, as Giancarlo Fisichella's Force India lost control in the damp conditions at Kumho Kurve, making relatively heavy contact with the retaining wall on the 100mph corner and damaging both right-front and rear suspension parts. Team-mate Adrian Sutil enjoyed a positive session at home, though, winding up sixth fastest after stopping in the morning with gearbox problems.

Vettel had also ground to a halt earlier although the German finished the day as the leading championship contender, edging out Jenson Button's Brawn by 38 thousandths of a second on Super Soft tyres (the softer compound on offer this weekend, labelled as 'Option' and identified by a green stripe on the sidewall of the tyre). Mark Webber completed a strong day with fourth position after being fastest in the morning as Trulli made the top five for Toyota despite an off at Turn 1 and a Turn 4 spin.

In a session where all cars struggled for grip, particularly on the Medium compound Bridgestone Potenzas (the harder on offer this weekend, labelled as 'Prime'), Rubens Barrichello finished the day seventh ahead of Alonso, Nakajima - who visited the Coca-Cola Kurve gravel trap early on - and Nelsinho Piquet in the second Renault. Nick Heidfeld - who completed most laps (36) - was the third German in 13th with compatriot Timo Glock 15th and Nico Rosberg 13th for Williams, needing to be fastest in Saturday's morning practice in order to have set a fastest practice time on all Grand Prix weekends so far this year.

Although team-mate Hamilton posted the fastest lap time, Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren finished the day 17th, just behind compatriot Kimi Räikkönen in the Ferrari whose own team-mate, Felipe Massa, experimented with front wing settings in order to dial out oversteer.

Third and final practice for the German Grand Prix will last for one hour and takes place at 11am German time (BST +1 / GMT +2) on Saturday ahead of qualifying which will begin two hours after the morning session.

^ thats good news i guess..

Webber get's his career first pole.

Qualifiers standings...
1: Webber
2:Barrichelo
3:Button
4:Vettel
5: Hamilton
6:Kovalainen
7util
8:Massa
9:Raikonen

^ lol that finish was awesome..hamilton from p1 to p5

wow mclarens back in form

Sutil in P7.. Can he win some points tomorrow..? And Mclarens in the top 6.. Great. Will have to watch the race tomorrow.

Starting Grid:

Originally Posted by King Tut

wow mclarens back in form

They retuned heikki's car and added aero upgrades to Hamiltons.

Sutil heavier than Ferrari but Button lightest car

As always, governing body the FIA revealed the weights of the 20 cars after qualifying on Saturday evening. The results make for interesting reading, as seventh-placed Adrian Sutil qualified quicker than the Ferrari cars despite carrying a greater amount of fuel and Rubens Barrichello did likewise with team-mate Jenson Button, who will have the lightest car at the start of the race. Red Bull pilots Sebastian Vettel and pole winner Mark Webber are carrying identical fuel loads.

- Lightest car: Jenson Button / Brawn - 3rd - 644.0kg
- Heaviest car: Nico Rosberg / Williams - 15th - 689.6kg


Post-qualifying car weights:


1 - Mark Webber / Red Bull = 661.0kg **
2 - Rubens Barrichello / Brawn = 647.0kg
3 - Jenson Button / Brawn = 644.0kg *
4 - Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull = 661.0kg **
5 - Lewis Hamilton / McLaren = 654.5kg *
6 - Heikki Kovalainen / McLaren = 664.0kg
7 - Adrian Sutil / Force India = 678.5kg
8 - Felipe Massa / Ferrari = 673.5kg *
9 - Kimi Räikkönen / Ferrari = 674.0kg
10 - Nelson Piquet / Renault = 676.0kg
11 - Nick Heidfeld / BMW = 681.0kg
12 - Fernando Alonso / Renault = 668.2kg *
13 - Kazuki Nakajima / Williams = 683.6kg *
14 - Jarno Trulli / Toyota = 683.7kg
15 - Nico Rosberg / Williams = 689.6kg
16 - Robert Kubica / BMW = 673.5kg *
17 - Sébastien Buemi / Toro Rosso = 674.5kg *
18 - Giancarlo Fisichella / Force India = 662.5kg *
19 - Sébastien Bourdais / Toro Rosso = 689.5kg
20 - Timo Glock / Toyota = 662.3kg *


* Lightest of the team's two cars (first to pit under normal circumstances)
** Carrying identical fuel load to team-mate

woah nico's pretty heavy and still 15th