Rosberg quickest as Vettel hits the champions' wall

Rosberg quickest as Vettel hits the champions’ wall

2011 Canadian GP first practice

June 10, 2011 at 4:34 pm by Keith Collantine

Nico Rosberg set the pace in the first practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.

But he had to abandon his final run in the session when he began to experience burning in the car.

Other drivers found the circuit a considerable challenge as the little-used track proved very dusty. The slippery surface caught out several drivers – including the world champion.

Sebastian Vettel lost the rear of his car at the final chicane and slithered helplessly into the wall, smashing the front-right corner of the car. The Wall of Champions claimed another victim.

Many other drivers went off the track during the session including Nick Heidfeld, who pirouetted on his way out of the Senna hairpin.

Paul di Resta locked his brakes at the L’Epingle hairpin and took to the run-off there.

The Ferraris led the way early on, with Fernando Alonso heading the times for much of the second half of the session.

Lewis Hamilton had been quickest up to that point but suffered a technical problem relating to the steering wheel which confined him to the garage halfway through the session.

He was able to join the track later in the session. Team mate Jenson Button also hit trouble with a faulty Drag Reduction System.

Michael Schumacher ended the session third fastest ahead of Felipe Massa and the two McLarens.

Pos.	Car	Driver	Car	Best lap	Gap	Laps
1	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1’15.591		32
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1’16.139	0.548	27
3	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1’16.549	0.958	30
4	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1’16.658	1.067	26
5	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1’16.676	1.085	20
6	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1’16.842	1.251	19
7	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1’16.990	1.399	28
8	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1’17.294	1.703	26
9	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	1’17.445	1.854	28
10	14	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1’17.549	1.958	20
11	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1’17.662	2.071	27
12	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1’17.820	2.229	30
13	19	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’18.458	2.867	31
14	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1’18.506	2.915	15
15	18	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’18.648	3.057	35
16	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1’18.852	3.261	8
17	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Cosworth	1’18.932	3.341	20
18	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	1’19.274	3.683	29
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	1’19.422	3.831	30
20	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1’19.577	3.986	26
21	25	Jerome d’Ambrosio	Virgin-Cosworth	1’19.838	4.247	31
22	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT-Cosworth	1’19.960	4.369	23
23	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	1’20.520	4.929	21
24	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1’20.839	5.248	27

2011 Canadian Grand Prix

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58 comments on Rosberg quickest as Vettel hits the champions’ wall

krtekf1 said on 10th June 2011, 18:25

BBC: “Nico Rosberg may have been fastest in first practice but he says he is worried about his Mercedes “destroying” the tyres during the race. ”

It looks like its gonna be another bad weekend for Mercedes…

AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 10th June 2011, 22:21

PLEEEASE Mercedes don’t have another disappointing weekend. They tend to do well in practise but lose it towards quali and in the race.

I can’t imagine Vettel is at all perturbed by smashing into the wall…rite of passage!

dragon said on 11th June 2011, 1:47

He clearly did it on purpose. He loves his stats, does Seb, and I’m sure he didn’t consider himself a true champion until he ploughed into that wall!

wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 11th June 2011, 3:00

Am i the only one who think that getting on the podium for the Red Bull this weekend will be tough.They are not traditionally good as far as pace is concerned on low downforce circuit.

DC said on 11th June 2011, 17:30

Definitely a fix, BIG ONE — HULLLLLLLOOOOOOO !?!?