Thursday, May 26, 2011

Monaco GP: Alonso edges Hamilton

Fernando Alonso set the pace in Thursday's second practice session in Monaco as Ferrari and McLaren came to the fore

Alonso, who is bidding to win the Monaco GP with his third different team this weekend, crossed the line with a 1:15.123 to edge McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by 0.105s.

Third place went to Mercedes GP's Nico Rosberg, who finished ahead of Jenson Button, while Sebastian Vettel could only manage the fifth best time. The reigning World Champion was half a second behind the leading Ferrari.

Felipe Massa took sixth place ahead of Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber.

Report: The sun was out and the track temperature was a hot 45'C as Timo Glock hit the track to start Thursday's second practice in Monte Carlo. Pastor Maldonado narrowly escaped damaging his car as he locked up, run wide and had to take to the escape road.

The drivers were quick to get down to work with Vitaly Petrov leading the way ahead of Jaime Alguersuari while Mark Webber, who missed FP1 with a gearbox problem, took third place ahead of Sebastien Buemi. Felipe Massa was the next to lead the way with a 1:17.483. Yellow flags came out as Alguersuari made a mistake, hitting the barriers at Turn 1.

A near collision between the two Ferrari drivers as Fernando Alonso, on course for the P1 slot, came up behind his team-mate, who was slowing down to make room for himself. Alonso came within a millimetres of hitting the back of Massa's car. The Spaniard will not be happy.

Nico Rosberg took over at the top with Jenson Button improving to second place and Lewis Hamilton to fifth behind Massa and Petrov. Without his team-mate in front of him to bulk him, Alonso was able to take the P1 slot with a 1:16.408. Hamilton climbed to fourth place as Sebastian Vettel just, and only just, missed hitting the barriers with the rear left of his RB7.

Heikki Kovalainen had to take to the escape road after missing his braking point. Massa, pushing too hard, almost lost it around the Casino hairpin. Problems for Paul di Resta as the Scot is
pushed down the escape road by the marshals after coming to a halt at the chicane.

At the halfway point of the session it was Alonso ahead of Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Massa, Petrov, Rubens Barrichello and Buemi.

Massa is doing everything he can to put his car in the wall and mounts the kerb, almost hits the armco barrier and a few metres later, almost hits the barrier again. But hey he's up to third, 0.718s slower than his team-mate. Massa was dropped one place at Vettel took the P1 slot with a 1:15.667, almost a second quicker than his P1time from this morning. Massa moved up to second place, 0.114s off Vettel's time.

Alonso returned to the front, half a second up on Vettel's best. Rosberg improved to second place with Vettel taking third before he was dropped by Button. Hamilton climbed to second place, missing out on the P1 time by a tenth. Minor problems for Glock, Hamilton and Schumacher, all of whom ran off the track but without any damage. Massa stalled as he attempted to leave the pits and Petrov lost his front wing as he exited the tunnel.

Thursday's second practice ended with Alonso in the P1 slot, ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg.

Times
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m15.123s 42 laps
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.228s + 0.105 33 laps
03. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m15.321s + 0.198 44 laps
04. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.448s + 0.325 38 laps
05. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m15.667s + 0.544 46 laps
06. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m15.781s + 0.658 45 laps
07. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m16.356s + 1.233 33 laps
08. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m16.642s + 1.519 42 laps
09. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m17.101s + 1.978 46 laps
10. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m17.126s + 2.003 38 laps
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m17.337s + 2.214 35 laps
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.541s + 2.418 47 laps
13. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m17.570s + 2.447 39 laps
14. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.581s + 2.458 32 laps
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m17.633s + 2.510 49 laps
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.706s + 2.583 37 laps
17. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.789s + 2.666 43 laps
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m18.266s + 3.143 50 laps
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m18.490s + 3.367 39 laps
20. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m19.053s + 3.930 15 laps
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m19.185s + 4.062 40 laps
22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m19.338s + 4.215 35 laps
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m22.066s + 6.943 33 laps

Source: Planet-F1

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