Mark Webber on top in Suzuka practice

Friday 5th October, 2012 10:56pm
Author: SpeedCafe ©

Sebastian Vettel

Mark Webber has set the fastest time in the second Formula 1 free practice session at Suzuka today.

Webber was third fastest in the first session behind the McLaren pair of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, but increased his pace to clock a 1:32.492s in P2, a clear 0.214s ahead of Mercedes-bound Hamilton.

Webber’s Red Bull Racing team-mate Sebastian Vettel was third fastest.

The Australian said that despite being on top, the Red Bull team has some challenges ahead.

“We have plenty to go through this evening, (but) it was a smooth one for us and we completed all the runs we wanted to,” he said.

“It’s a challenging venue in terms of balance here, but the car ran well and we tested both tyres. We have areas where we can improve, mostly with the balance, so we have some work to do.”

Force India’s Nico Hulkenburg put in a good showing to finish the session fourth fastest, in front of Ferrari’s championship leader Fernando Alonso and Renault driver Romain Grosjean.

Reigning Japanese Grand Prix winner Jenson Button was seventh quickest ahead of Bruno Senna, Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher, who crashed late in the session.

Paul di Resta spun sideways and careered into the safety barrier with six minutes left to run, with the Scotsman directly blaming himself following the crash.

“Completely down to me … a bit ambitious a bit too early,” di Resta said.

“It was frustrating because I was six tenths up and Kimi (Raikkonen) was in my way, but the responsibility was mine.”

Vitaly Petrov also left the circuit and beached himself in the Turn 1 gravel, after his Caterham allegedly shed its rear wing on pit straight.

All Lotus personel were forced to wear rubber gear for safety reasons after the KERS battery on Kimi Raikkonen’s car was found to be leaking.

Raikkonen finished the session 14th fastest after spending the majority of the session in the garage.

Perth native Daniel Ricciardo finished the session in 16th position, one place ahead of his Toro Rosso teammate Jean-Eric Vergne.

Practice 1

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time/Retired	Gap	Laps
1	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:34.507		20
2	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:34.740	0.233	26
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:34.856	0.349	24
4	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:35.059	0.552	18
5	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:35.122	0.615	20
6	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:35.199	0.692	27
7	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:35.283	0.776	24
8	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1:35.299	0.792	18
9	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:35.474	0.967	22
10	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1:35.478	0.971	24
11	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:35.484	0.977	26
12	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:35.584	1.077	24
13	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	1:35.691	1.184	22
14	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:35.724	1.217	21
15	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	1:36.123	1.616	19
16	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	1:36.222	1.715	25
17	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:36.366	1.859	23
18	19	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	1:36.389	1.882	24
19	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1:37.716	3.209	17
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1:38.295	3.788	23
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1:38.616	4.109	25
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1:39.043	4.536	25
23	20	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	1:39.374	4.867	22
24	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1:39.688	5.181	19

Practice 2

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time/Retired	Gap	Laps
1	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:32.493		34
2	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:32.707	0.214	32
3	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:32.836	0.343	37
4	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:32.987	0.494	30
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:33.093	0.600	28
6	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:33.107	0.614	35
7	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:33.349	0.856	22
8	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	1:33.499	1.006	35
9	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:33.614	1.121	32
10	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:33.750	1.257	13
11	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:33.866	1.373	19
12	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:33.903	1.410	36
13	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:33.983	1.490	33
14	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	1:34.291	1.798	12
15	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1:34.300	1.807	33
16	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	1:34.863	2.370	32
17	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	1:35.080	2.587	34
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1:35.711	3.218	41
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1:35.870	3.377	37
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1:36.194	3.701	32
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1:36.636	4.143	28
22	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1:37.342	4.849	30
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1:37.701	5.208	35
24	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	No time		2