Prac One: Massa sets the pace at Spa

Friday 5th September 2008

Felipe Massa followed through on his determination to beat Kimi Raikkonen this weekend at Spa, edging his team-mate in Practice One.

The two Ferraris had the better of their McLaren rivals as they traded blows throughout practice with Massa eventually finishing on top with a 1:47.284.

That put him 0.339s ahead of Raikkonen while the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen slotted in behind.

Report: Overcast skies and an ambient temperature of just 15'C greeted the drivers as Adrian Sutil took to the Spa-Francorchamps track for the start of first practice. The Force India driver was followed by a stream of cars as everyone barring the two Ferraris completed an installation lap within the first ten minutes.

Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa ventured out for their installation laps, with Massa opting to stay out setting the first timed lap of the morning, a 1:50.329. The Brazilian was joined out on track by Sebastian Vettel, Sebastien Bourdais, Mark Webber and Sutil, all of whom slotted in behind him on the timesheets.

More drivers hit the track as Massa lowered the benchmark. Nick Heidfeld ran wide at La Source, having to use the extra tarmac run-off area. The German is under pressure to put in a good result this weekend.

Fernando Alonso took second place behind Massa while Lewis Hamilton went P4 on his first timed lap, slotting in ahead of Sutil and Heidfeld. Hamilton improved to second with Vettel moving up behind him - the duo both half a second off Massa's P1 time.

Lap times continued to tumble and the order change, all barring the P1 slot, which was still held by Massa half-an-hour into the session.

Nelson Piquet Jr went P12 before having to take to the run-off on the following lap when he missed his braking point for the Bus Stop chicane. The Renault driver moved up to tenth place on the next lap while Heikki Kovalainen went P6 in his McLaren. Jarno Trulli improved to seventh place with Sutil and Timo Glock completing the top ten.

Raikkonen went P10 on his first timed lap before taking third place on his next lap, 0.243s off his team-mate's lead time. The Finn continued lapping at the track where he has won for the past three years, taking the P1 slot off Massa with a 1:48.075. The Brazilian, though, fought back, bettering Raikkonen's time by 0.055s.

Behind the Ferrari battle lay the McLaren duo with Hamilton ahead of Kovalainen while the Renaults and Toro Rossos completed the top eight.

Nico Rosberg ran wide at La Source, taking to the extra tarmac run off area. The German was down in 17th place with only Rubens Barrichello, his team-mate Kazuki Nakajima and David Coulthard slower. Coulthard moved up to 10th place with half an hour left on the clock.

A light rain began to fall over parts of the circuit as Hamilton got it wrong at the Bus Stop chicane. Jenson Button was the next to use the run-off at the Bus Stop chicane as he locked up under braking.

Alonso improved to third place behind the Ferraris with Glock breaking into the top eight for Toyota. Hamilton took third place off Alonso while Bourdais slotted in behind them before being dropped by Kovalainen who went P4.

Massa improved his P1 time to a 1:47.3 using the softer of the two Bridgestone tyres. The Brazilian took over another tenth off his time to end the session top of the timesheets.

Times
01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:47.284 25 laps
02 K. R�ikk�nen Ferrari 1:47.623 25 laps
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:47.878 27 laps
04 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:47.932 24 laps
05 F. Alonso Renault 1:48.104 25 laps
06 M. Webber Red Bull 1:48.428 28 laps
07 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:48.557 30 laps
08 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:48.958 24 laps
09 T. Glock Toyota 1:48.997 26 laps
10 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:49.068 24 laps
11 R. Kubica BMW 1:49.139 25 laps
12 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:49.185 26 laps
13 N. Rosberg Williams 1:49.611 30 laps
14 J. Trulli Toyota 1:49.625 14 laps
15 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:49.849 18 laps
16 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:49.986 27 laps
17 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:50.117 19 laps
18 K. Nakajima Williams 1:50.125 30 laps
19 J. Button Honda 1:50.464 24 laps
20 R. Barrichello Honda 1:50.905 25 laps