Planet-F1

Prac Three: Webber upsets the form books

Saturday 10th May 2008

Mark Webber upset the form books as the Red Bull driver led the way in the final practice session for the Turkish GP.

The session began with damp and fully wet patches in places of the track, which meant the drivers started the final practice of the weekend on intermediate tyres.

The two Force India cars and the McLarens were the first out, followed by the rest of the field, excluding the Ferrari drivers. However a river of water at Turn 12 sent everyone back to their respective garages as they waited for the track to dry.

20 minutes into the hour-long session Timo Glock finally set the first lap time of the morning, a 1:30.427. He continued lapping, shaving a second off his time before being overhauled by Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton started a run for the dry weather harder Bridgestone tyres as only one or two damp spots remained. Sebastien Bourdais, though, managed to connect with one of them, sending the Toro Rosso driver into a spin.

Nico Rosberg took over from Hamilton at the top of the timesheets as drivers poured out onto the circuit, eager to work on their set-up prior to Saturday afternoon's qualifying.

Fernando Alonso was the next to go P1 but was soon displaced in quick succession by Rosberg then Nelson Piquet Jr then Hamilton and then Piquet Jr.

Kazuki Nakajima joined the list of spinners in the downhill left-hander at Turn Five while lap times continued to tumble.

Hamilton went P1 again before being overhauled by Kimi Raikkonen, only to then take the position back a lap later and then lose it to Felipe Massa.

Massa led the way for over 10 minutes, the longest anyone had held onto the P1 slot, before losing it to Red Bull's David Coulthard. A 1:27.340 for the Scot whose reign lasted less than five minutes, he was displaced by team-mate Mark Webber who shaved 0.3s off DC's time.

With three minutes left on the clock, 19 of the 20 drivers hit the track, most with the softer option tyres, in a last-ditch effort to finish on top.

However, none of them were able to beat Webber's 1:27.030 with Alonso's coming the closest with his 1:27.172.

Coulthard was third followed by Rosberg, Massa, Jarno Trulli, Hamilton and Glock.

Times
01 M. Webber Red Bull 1:27.030 16 laps
02 F. Alonso Renault 1:27.172 13 laps
03 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:27.193 15 laps
04 N. Rosberg Williams 1:27.365 16 laps
05 F. Massa Ferrari 1:27.530 13 laps
06 J. Trulli Toyota 1:27.614 15 laps
07 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:27.658 18 laps
08 T. Glock Toyota 1:27.733 22 laps
09 J. Button Honda 1:27.766 16 laps
10 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:27.781 14 laps
11 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:27.837 14 laps
12 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:27.849 13 laps
13 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:27.899 18 laps
14 R. Barrichello Honda 1:27.946 14 laps
15 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:27.948 17 laps
16 R. Kubica BMW 1:27.971 16 laps
17 K. Nakajima Williams 1:28.301 14 laps
18 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:28.573 18 laps
19 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:28.655 19 laps
20 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:29.131 19 laps