Free practice 1 – interactive chart

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Paul di Resta made his usual Friday appearance for Force India

View all the lap times from the first free practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya on the interactive chart below.

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Ferrari sent Felipe Massa out much earlier than usual as they conducted tests of their new blown rear wing. Fernando Alonso used the new system at first then had it removed ahead of his final stint so the team could judge the difference between the two.

As usual the Red Bull drivers did not seen to be going for outright pace but both their drivers headed a session around the halfway mark, indicating they are on the pace. Mark Webber’s final run was at or near full fuel load.

McLaren ended the session on top of the times, as they often have this year, having said they are focussing on improving their qualifying performances.

Further down the field the Virgin-Lotus battle is made especially interesting by both teams bringing major updates for their cars this weekend.

Although Heikki Kovalainen’s best lap time brought Lotus within two seconds of the midfield, he did it late in the session having done fewer laps on his tyres than many of his rivals, so we haven’t got a clear picture of how much progress they’ve made just yet.

Meanwhile at HRT, Christian Klien seemed to be consistently quicker than Bruno Senna on his debut for the team, assuming similar fuel loads.

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    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    10 comments on “Free practice 1 – interactive chart”

    1. The chart’s a great idea, but the colours chosen make it a nightmare for comparing team-mates. Their colours are so similar, it’s hard to tell them apart.

      1. The similar colours make it good for comparing the trends between the individual teams.

        It does make it more difficult between teammates but if you untick the rest and hover over the dots you get the times against their names.

        1. The charts are an excellent addition Keith, fantastic stuff!

          This site is unquestionably the best for anything Formula 1.

          1. Gwenouille
            8th May 2010, 8:52

            “This site is unquestionably the best for anything Formula 1.”

            Quoted for agreement. A fantastic work and website.

    2. I think with so many drivers and so many lap times set, this must be as good as its gonna get.

      1. ignore, just testing something…

    3. The blown rear wing seems to be working for Ferrari.

      Alonso was definitely faster with it than without.

      Massa wasn’t, but that is perhaps down to him going in the early stages of the session with the track being at its dirtiest (plus he was stalling the rear wing till the very end of the straight, something Rob advised him against).

    4. Lovin’ these charts…

    5. The chart is brilliant, but a ‘untick all’ option may be useful. At the moment, in order to see the lap time of one particular driver, one has to undo the ticks from 23 other names. A mere two clicks would make life much easier.

      Just a suggestion :).

    6. looks like micheal shumacher find some speed in his new mercedes ,hope for a good result for him

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