12.55 BST - Here we go again then folks, time for all the action from what promises to be a moderately exciting second practice session in Valencia.
13.00 BST - I'm having a lot of computer problems this afternoon, so please forgive me if updates are slow or non-existant, the chances are you'll be missing nothing anyway.
13.05 BST - As I said earlier, Barrichello got stuck in gear during FP1, but I erroneously said he faced a penalty if they were to change the gearbox. Of course this is Friday, so they're allowed to change it without penalty. So never mind. Hamilton is straight back on the pace at the start of FP2.
13.15 BST - Hamilton spins and is in the middle of the track on the exit of a blind corner. Fortunately nobody drives into him. Alonso goes quickest now before Sutil does! Before Alonso deposes him again.
The Foot - "Well, there spins Hamilton. Interestingly, his racecar still spells racecar when it's pointing backwards!"
EMAIL! - Wow, David Black has emailed again (hot on the heels of his Silverstone email), he could be my best (and only) friend! He claims to be "so happy that (I'm) doing the live text again! It is a bright light in an otherwise dark day" for him. How terribly sweet of you David. Anyway, he wants to know about Luca Badoer, whether he has any chance of points, and why he was last in FP1.
Well that's a terribly in-depth question for us here at Patty, but I'll give it a shot. Badoer has a long and rich history in motorsport, winning the F3000 Championship in 1992 before spending 7 years in a variety of awful cars scoring no points, although he did tragically miss out on 4th in a Minardi at the 1999 European GP (see FP1 terry for clip). Since then he's been a loyal/highly paid test driver for Ferrari, but he's naturally going to be rusty at a race, having not done one since October 1999. He is the driver who has done the most races without scoring a point, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if that continued. He's still last as I type.
The Foot - "I think theres a decent chance that we'll find out if Luca also cries when he breaks down in 17th this weekend."
13.25 BST - To the session then. Oh, nothing's happening. Alonso is quickest from the Willies of Nico and Nakas, Boobens is 4th ahead of an impressive trio of Buemi, Sutil and Grosjean. Badoer puts in a stunning lap to be only just last now, good effort from the Italian. Then I think that was Grosjean having a bit of a spinny moment. Webber now in third. bad
13.30 BST - Well there it is, Badoer puts in a sensational lap to move into 19th place! Great job there. Oh...oh no he's last again as Heidfeld moves up to 17th. Never mind. Hamilton's off broke the hanger (?) on his front wing, so he'll be sitting out the rest of the session as they can't repair it in time. OK...Rosberg has gone P1 now.
13.50 BST - Badoer is now 1.3 seconds off Alguersuari in 19th....no he's not, because they've both improved, Jaime up to 15th and Badoer is now only 0.3 seconds behind Hamilton, who's 19th and won't run again this session! Luca might not finish last! Button meanwhile goes quickest. And in the 10 minutes it took my laptop to crash and restart, Nico has gone fastest and had a little moment as well.
13.55 BST - Heidfeld went fastest for a moment bizarrely, but has since been deposed by Alonso, and Rosberg is second. Glock is up in 5th, showing signs of a Toyota recovery. Trulli proves it by going quickest, although Barrichello promptly demotes him to second, although the Brazilian's teammate then takes first place off him. Another moment for Fat John in the Renault.
The Foot - "CHAMPIONSHIP OVER!!! They've unbroken the Brawns. Boo."
14.00 BST - I'm being distracted by an impending thunderstorm here in Newcastle (England). I'm not sure if it's that which is messing up my TV feed, or a problem with the BBC itself. Either way, Alonso goes quickest on a 1:40 flat now, the times are coming down very nicely.
14.05 BST - Badoer Update: he's now only 0.026 off 19th place! At least it's a stationary target for him to aim at. Glock has just gone 5th in the Yoda, AND BADOER IS 19TH!!! What an achievement for this Italian superstar, he's 3 tenths faster than 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Incredible! His next target is a man almost exactly half his age, Jaime Alguersuari.
14.10 BST - Oh my gosh, he's on a roll now! He's now 4 tenths faster than Alguersuari and only a fraction behind Grosjean's Renault. Credit where it's due, he's doing the business when it matters. He's a fraction behind a guy in his first race, he's beaten a guy in his second race, and he's thrashed a guy who hasn't been able to run for most of the session. What a performance.
14.15 BST - Yellow flags are out, not really sure why, except that a marshal has just picked up a Renault front wing. Oh there's the issue, Alonso got massively locked up going into the final corner and slid into the inside of Heidfeld's BMW, launching the German into the air and taking off his own front wing. That was all rather dramatic for a Friday. Schumacher finds it hilarious, Badoer would never do anything like that. For various reasons.
14.20 BST - About this time this morning, Boobens went quickest, and he's done it again. Heidfeld says the move from Alonso was "just plain stupid", and he looks somewhat unhappy. He also looks rather like an older, hairier version of young stand-up comedian Russell Howard.
14.30 BST - Well it's now a Brawn 1-2, as Button slots in second. Sutil improves to 6th. Alonso is back on track and gets safely around the final corner this time. Yellows were out briefly so someone must have had a moment, but we don't see it. Alonso is going purple all over the place, locks up into the final corner and goes quickest by just the 0.8 of a second. Button goes second behind him. Grosjean has improved to 13th, everyone is improving in one way or another. Alonso was going to improve again, but spins off. Never mind. Fisichella moves up to 8th in the second Force India, good effort again from them. Bwemmy gets on the radio complaining about his right foot. Anybody else improving? Vettel goes 9th...and that's it.
14.35 BST - Well then, the Brawns seem to be back on form, but it's Alonso who's the quickest man today. Can he keep it up for the rest of the weekend? Well, I really hope so, but you'll have to join us here on Patty to find out. Thank you to any unfortunates who have stuck with me throughout the 'action', and particular thanks to our emailers, The Head, Alan Barnes and David Black. Cheerio!
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
