*** 2007 British GP ***

[blue8]

Practice 1 Times:
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:21.100 24 laps
02 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:21.211 26 laps
03 F. Massa Ferrari 1:21.285 26 laps
04 F. Al0nso McLaren 1:21.675 21 laps
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:22.006 24 laps
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:22.107 25 laps
07 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:22.176 13 laps
08 A. Wurz Williams 1:22.216 23 laps
09 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:22.878 21 laps
10 R. Barrichello Honda 1:22.956 27 laps
11 J. Trulli Toyota 1:23.030 26 laps
12 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:23.037 24 laps
13 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:23.099 25 laps
14 G. Fisichella Renault 1:23.179 21 laps
15 J. Button Honda 1:23.517 17 laps
16 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:23.548 18 laps
17 M. Webber Red Bull 1:23.564 21 laps
18 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:23.618 15 laps
19 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:23.854 20 laps
20 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:23.954 25 laps
21 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:24.154 23 laps
22 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:24.172 30 laps

Planet F1: Lewis Hamilton lifted British hearts and expectations in Friday's first practice when he clocked the fastest time at Silverstone ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. As per usual the session began slowly as the teams at the back of the field did their thing, cleaning the track for the frontrunners and in doing so Christijan Albers and Alex Wurz both had their moment at the head of the pack. However, the action really began when the Toyotas came out with Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher making their way to the top of the timesheets before the arrival of the McLarens out on track. Hamilton was the first to make his move taking second place ahead of Ralf before improving to take the top spot away from Trulli. The McLaren rookie, though, spun his car two laps later. His MP4-22 came to a halt on the grass facing the wrong way. But a quick spin from the Brit put him back facing the right director and he continued on his way. Hamilton, however, lost out when his team-mate Fernando Alonso took to the track. The reigning F1 Champion - and the winner of last year's British GP - posted three fastest sector times to move ahead of Hamilton by a mere 0.090 seconds. Robert Kubica and Hekki Kovalainen were also people on the move, taking fourth and fifth respectively before Raikkonen slotted his Ferrari into third place on his first timed lap, sending them both done one position. Meanwhile Alonso continued lapping, shaving tenths off his time with each tour of the Silverstone circuit. Felipe Massa took fourth place with his first timed lap of the day, however, was 0.776s off Alonso's leading place. The Brazilian dropped one place moments later when Kubica went on a charge, moving back up to fourth place. Halfway through the session Massa moved ahead of Kubica as he got within half a second of Alonso's P1 time. Nick Heidfeld, who didn't have the best time in France last weekend, was another driver on the move taking sixth place to make it a McLaren 1-2, Ferrari 3-4 and BMW 5-6. Raikkonen, though, put an end to McLaren's reign at the top of the timesheets with a 1:21.646, which was 0.029s faster than Alonso's best time. The Finn continued lapping, taking over a tenth of a second off his time on the next lap and again on the following lap demonstrating Ferrari's improved pace on their second and third laps with the Bridgestone rubber. Massa followed his team-mate's lead and went on a charge, taking the P1 slot by 0.103s, handing Ferrari the 1-2, while Heidfeld also get ahead of his team-mate and Ralf Schumacher made his way back into the top eight. Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato slotted into tenth and 11th places ahead of the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella before Jenson Button took P11 off Sato. With 30 minutes remaining in the session British hopeful Hamilton took another trip into gravel, this time at Priory. The rookie's McLaren snapped sideways, putting him into a slide, which saw him end up in the gravel. A few minutes later though, he was up into third place ahead of his team-mate Alonso. Minutes later the Spaniard joined Hamilton by going off at Priory. The McLaren driver took too much speed into the turn, lost control and had to take to the gravel trap. David Coulthard then became the third driver in less than ten minutes to test the gravel at Priory as he too spun off the track. DC's spin brought out the yellow flags as his Red Bull racer was beached in the kitty litter. Once the yellow flags were lifted both McLarens went on a charge, however, Alonso lost time in the third sector keeping him down in fourth place. Hamilton, though, improved to first place with a 1:21.100 while Nico Rosberg put his Williams up into fifth. With ten minutes remaining a few drops of rain began to fall leading to Trulli spinning his Toyota while exiting Club corner. However, that didn't stop Raikkonen from bettering his time to take second place, 0.154s behind Hamilton. Wurz leapt up the order to take eighth place.

[Mattk]

That article made the practice session seem so exciting!

[blue8]

Practice 2 Times:
01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:20.639 35 laps
2 F. Massa Ferrari 1:21.138 30 laps
3 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:21.381 34 laps
4 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:21.381 39 laps
5 J. Trulli Toyota 1:21.467 35 laps
6 F. Al0nso McLaren 1:21.616 35 laps
7 N. Rosberg Williams 1:21.619 40 laps
8 A. Wurz Williams 1:21.650 37 laps
9 M. Webber Red Bull 1:22.137 31 laps
10 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:22.143 40 laps
11 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:22.189 42 laps
12 G. Fisichella Renault 1:22.257 39 laps
13 R. Kubica BMW 1:22.372 41 laps
14 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:22.428 23 laps
15 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:22.486 34 laps
16 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:22.487 38 laps
17 R. Barrichello Honda 1:22.511 39 laps
18 C. Klien Honda 1:22.833 45 laps
19 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.840 42 laps
20 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:23.105 35 laps
21 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:23.113 35 laps
22 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:23.720 30 laps

Planet F1: Kimi Raikkonen destroyed his rivals in the second practice session for the British GP, beating Felipe Massa by almost half a second. The session began under dark clouds, although the track had dried out following rain at the end of the GP2 practice session earlier in the day. Anthony Davidson and Ralf Schumacher were the first two drivers to set laps times, however, both were down in the 1:28s. Ralf improved to a 1:24.216, setting the first competitive time of the session. Within minutes there were 12 other drivers lapping the Silverstone circuit and setting times. Nick Heidfeld was the next driver to lead the way, while Nico Rosberg slotted into third place before being bumped down two positions by Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica. Fernando Alonso pushed the entire field down one place when he moved to the top of the timesheets on his first timed lap. The Spaniard posted a 1:22.640 only for his team-mate to beat it moments later. Alonso, however, came back on the very next lap, taking 0.231s off Hamilton's time. The two Ferraris put an end to the McLaren battle as Raikkonen and Felipe Massa went first and second respectively. Raikkonen's best a 1:21.989. Alonso improved to second place, while Robert Kubica slotted his BMW into P4 ahead of Hamilton and Heidfeld. Jarno Trulli came out of nowhere to move to the top of the leaderboard, half a second up on Raikkonen. His glory, though, was short-lived as Massa took almost two tenths off his time and the P1 slot in the process. Fastest times all three sectors saw Raikkonen nail his hot lap to depose Massa at the front of the timesheets. The Finn also became the first driver to break into the 1:20s. Ralf Schumacher and Mark Webber both found something extra to take third and sixth places respectively, resulting in Hamilton dropping out of the top ten. The McLaren rookie, though, didn't take too long to pick up the pace, forcing his way into sixth place behind Rosberg and ahead of Alonso. Meanwhile Heikki Kovalainen was the first driver to go off at Priory this season. The Renault rookie took a high-speed and rather long trip through the gravel before making his way back onto the track at Brooklands. However, he wasn't the only one having problems. Raikkonen went off at Copse corner three times before the first hour of the session was completed. Takuma Sato was another. He had a huge moment at Chapel after exiting Becketts too quickly. Back on the track Hamilton improved to fourth place, although was still 0.742s slower than Raikkonen. Massa improved his time but was unable to make any dent on Raikkonen's P1 slot, still 0.499s slower than his team-mate. Rubens Barrichello joined Kovalainen on the list of those visiting Priory here today. The Honda driver in fact made the exact same error as the Renault driver. The first yellow flags of the session finally came out 20 minutes left to play when Adrian Sutil crashed his Spyker into the tyre barriers at Copse. Once the flags were lifted there was a mad dash to see who could improve in the final 13 minutes of the session. Davidson was the first to do so, breaking into the top ten, while Alonso bettered his time to go from eight to sixth place. The rest of the top 12, though, failed to improve on their positions. Meanwhile Christian Klien, who is replacing the injured Jenson Button for Practice Two, finished the session in 18th place, 2.365s off the pace.

[nejcdolinsek]

FORZA FERRARI!!!!

[sameerrao]

I am glad to see to Kimi performing as we expect him to. FINALLY!

Hopefully another Ferrari 1-2 to bridge the gap to the Maccas.

What a wonderful championship - the top 4 drivers in the sport have each won 2 GPs each 8)

[Svensson]

Originally Posted by sameerrao What a wonderful championship - the top 4 drivers in the sport have each won 2 GPs each 8)

Yeah that's cool indeed! I'm not disappointed until now!
And I'm really hoping for a quick rain shower halfway through the race on Sunday!

[Mattk]

Yeah, Ferrari seem to be performing strongly during the practice sessions. They're carrying on the momentum from the one-two finish in Magny Cours.

[saadie]

soo how many corners did ralf cut ? ...

go those red lolipops

[acmarttin]

I'll try not to get my hopes up. But I will cross my fingers.

[blue8]

Practice 3 Times:
01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:19.751 17 laps
02 F. Alonso McLaren 1:19.920 12 laps
03 F. Massa Ferrari 1:19.969 17 laps
04 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:20.344 12 laps
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:20.666 17 laps
06 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:20.770 21 laps
07 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:20.876 21 laps
08 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:20.882 17 laps
09 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:20.882 19 laps
10 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:20.915 23 laps
11 G. Fisichella Renault 1:20.983 19 laps
12 M. Webber Red Bull 1:21.002 16 laps
13 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.039 19 laps
14 R. Barrichello Honda 1:21.140 22 laps
15 A. Wurz Williams 1:21.148 17 laps
16 R. Kubica BMW 1:21.156 17 laps
17 J. Trulli Toyota 1:21.321 18 laps
18 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:21.343 16 laps
19 J. Button Honda 1:21.583 24 laps
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:21.745 23 laps
21 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:22.101 23 laps
22 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:22.180 24 laps

Kimi Raikkonen proved to be unstoppable in the final practice session for the British GP, edging out Fernando Alonso. Jenson Button, who missed Friday's second practice with a back spam, was the first driver to set a competitive lap time, clocking a 1:23.851 while the rest of the drivers completed one installation lap before pitting. Button, though, didn't hold onto the P1 slot for long as Jarno Trulli went 0.3s faster only for the Italian to be beaten by Anthony Davidson and Robert Kubica. Trulli, however, came back, taking the P1 slot before again losing out to Kubica. Nick Heidfeld took third place on his first timed lap, followed by Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi. Liuzzi's second run, though, saw him jump to the top of the leaderboard by 0.063s over Kubica, while Ralf Schumacher took P3 ahead of his team-mate. Speed also upped his pace, moving into third place. Problems for Kubica, who slowed down out on track and crawled back to the BMW garage while his team-mate Heidfeld set the fastest lap time followed by Ralf. 20 minutes into the session Kimi Raikkonen finally made his way out onto the track for the very first time and immediately shot to the top of the timesheets with a 1:20.886. Raikkonen continued lapping, increasing his lead over Ralf and Nico Rosberg. The French GP winner traded fastest sector for fastest sector on his way to a 1:20.607. Felipe Massa slotted in behind his team-mate on his first lap of the day, 0.258s behind Raikkonen. However, he lost the position to the fast-charging Fernando Alonso minutes later but fought back on the following lap, returning to the P2 slot. Alonso came back the very next lap to steal the P1 slot from Raikkonen by 0.110s. An ovation from the crowd signaled the arrival of Alonso's team-mate Lewis Hamilton onto the track. The McLaren rookie has captured the heart of the British public who have turned out in force to witness his first home grand prix. He went P8 on his first lap but improved to fourth place despite sliding his McLaren all over the track. Speed, who had fallen down to 12th place, bettered his time to move up to P6 before his team-mate Liuzzi jumped to tenth place. Raikkonen went back out, setting a fastest first sector as he tried to close the gap to Alonso. The Finn did, taking the top spot by 0.417s as he put in a blistering 1:19.751. Alex Wurz had a half-spin at Luffield. The back end of his Williams decided to come around mid-corner, resulting in a grassy moment for the Austrian. With 18 minutes remaining Kubica finally returned to the track, his BMW mechanics having fixed whatever was wrong with his F1.07. His team-mate Heidfeld improved to fifth place ahead of Ralf, while Massa went some way towards closing the gap to second-placed Alonso. Speed continued his impressive performance here this morning, taking fifth place off Heidfeld while Alonso bettered his time but not his position. A hard-pushing Liuzzi has to take to the run-off in order to save his car, however, two laps later joins his team-mate in the top six, taking sixth position. The softer option Bridgestones were the order of the session for the final few minutes with Rosberg the first to benefit, leaping up into fifth place. Alex Wurz jumped to eighth place, while Anthony Davidson put his Super Aguri into P6. Raikkonen, though, was the man to watch as the Finn went even faster than he'd done previously in the first sector. He didn't however improve overall. Heikki Kovalainen and Ralf Schumacher both moved into the top seven before a spin from Alex Wurz almost spelt disaster for one of the BMWs. Meanwhile there were issues between Trulli and Hamilton with the former signaling his unhappiness after being held up by Hamilton. Massa then took second place off Alonso, only for the Spaniard to fight back in the dying seconds and return to P2, just 0.169s behind Raikkonen.

[zondamaniac]

Go kimi!

[Mattk]

Could Lewis Hamilton be the British successor to Damon Hill, but far more exciting? Likely.

Judging from practice times, Ferrari and McLaren are dominating everyone, but the Ferraris seem to have the consistent edge. Hopefully that can translate into a good race performance, giving them another good one-two.

[saadie]

only iff raikkonen didnt do off at the last corner

Go raikkonen ....

not a bad job by hamilton tho

[sameerrao]

Raikonnen nearly had it. I am guessing he lost 0.2-0.25secs at least on the last corner. Hopefully he will not lose places at the start. Massa must be fueled more.

Should be an exciting race tomorrow.

[Svensson]

Originally Posted by saadie only iff raikkonen didnt do off at the last corner

If if if... that's always easy to say afterwards hehe... Fact is, Hamilton beat his ass