Webber fastest before the rain returns

2011 Belgian GP second practice

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Mark Webber, Red Bull, Spa-Francorchamps, 2011

Mark Webber was fastest in the second practice session at Spa.

The teams made the most of an hour’s running without rain and the times tumbled as the drivers used first intermediate tyres and then slicks.

Bruno Senna returned to the track after his crash in first practice and immediately went third fastest. He was briefly quickest of all as he traded times with team mate Vitaly Petrov.

Fernando Alonso was the first driver to use the medium slick tyre and took the fastest time off Webber by over four seconds.

With the prospect of fresh rain arriving the drivers hurried up their programmes to get some running done on soft tyres. Nico Rosberg used a set to go fastest.

But it was Webber who set the best time before the rain returned, setting the mark at 1’50.321.

Alonso was second-fastest ahead of the McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Felipe Massa was fifth ahead of Rosberg and Sergio Perez.

The two Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta were separated by two hundredths of a second in eighth and ninth, with Sebastian Vettel completing the top ten.

Pos.CarDriverCarBest lapGapLaps
12Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’50.32122
25Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’50.4610.14019
34Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’50.7700.4499
43Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’50.8380.5179
56Felipe MassaFerrari1’51.2180.89714
68Nico RosbergMercedes1’51.2420.92123
717Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1’51.6551.33421
814Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’51.7251.40418
915Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’51.7511.4309
101Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’51.7901.46913
117Michael SchumacherMercedes1’51.9221.60123
1212Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth1’52.7502.42920
1316Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’52.7802.45926
1419Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’52.9112.59025
1518Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’53.0092.68825
1611Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’53.1562.83517
179Bruno SennaRenault1’53.8353.51421
1821Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault1’55.0514.73020
1924Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’55.4945.17323
2020Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault1’56.2025.88115
2125Jerome D’AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth1’56.8166.49521
2223Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth1’57.4507.12919
2322Daniel RicciardoHRT-Cosworth1’57.6127.29124
2410Vitaly PetrovRenault2’02.23411.91312

2011 Belgian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    43 comments on “Webber fastest before the rain returns”

    1. Is it me or are Ferrari running a massive rearwing compared to the other teams?

      1. Mmm, no, but it looks bigger, compared to the new almost flat by Red Bull, and the new design by Mclaren.

        I was sure they won’t bring revolution at Spa, just counting on Alonso for some podiums.
        They also admitted that 2012 work has begun, fully charged.

        1. Speaking of rear wings. Just in regards to the whole DRS ban and take on safety. The cars running nose to tail (‘dirty air’) surely have less downforce than when the DRS is open? What would be more difficult, trying to follow a car very closely through Eau Rouge, or having the DRS open?

          1. Dirty air causes the car to understeer, DRS makes the car oversteer. Quite a difference.

    2. I sincerely hope this is a sign of Vettel slipping, I want a true climax to the end of the season, and currently Jenson, Lewis, Fernando and Mark all look like they could, but if they all steal points off each other, it then gives Vettel chance to stay ahead by a healthy margin, you want one of those four to step up and take the fight to Red Bull

      1. Vettel has it in the bag, just enjoy the racing.

        1. It would be harder to lose it than win it in Vettel’s case.

          1. just like 2009 except ironically it was hamilton’s win that helped out button

    3. If Bruno, having been out of F1 for a bit, and having only driven in an uncompetitive car beats the more practiced Petrov right off the bat….. Not good for Petrov is it?

      1. For whatever reason, Petrov didn’t seem to get a lot of running in FP1 in the dry, and again now.

        1. He had a steering problem.

          1. He had a driver problem more like ;)

        2. Renault have now confirmed, Petrov had some steering issue in FP2

    4. What’s Hulkenberg doing in FP2?

        1. Apparently they thought there would be better conditions during the morning session, so sidelined Hulkenberg until FP2.

      1. Apparently the teams have to declare on Thursday who will be driving. FI went with the weather predictions which said it would be dry in the morning, so gave that session to Sutil and the wet weather one would have been Hulkenberg’s. The weather switched around a bit though, so that plan got scuppered.

        That is all from an interview during the practice session.

    5. It would probably be good for renaul if petrov didnt perform, they would probably get another injection of money to make up for his performance.

      1. Okay, that makes no sense.

        1. Doesn’t perform, has to pay more to keep his seat, I think that is what is implied, if so it does make sense. ;-)

          1. thats exactly what I meant.

        2. Sure it does,sort of, less points = less cash from FOM, so please ask your sponsors to help.
          of course a faster driver earning more points need pay less.

          1. PS teacher, I always worry about the expression “of course” does not make literal sense. Should it be “of cause” or even “off …

    6. Well maybe his passion for racing is more powerful than what people would think of his legacy. He came back, he’s not competitive anymore (the car is to blame too) but this fact doesn’t take away any of the 7 titles he won. If there is a place in F1 for pay-drivers and veteran failures like Trulli, Liuzzi, Heidfeld why couldn’t there be a place for the 7-time World Champion?

      1. Quite right, what other driver out there could offer the team more bang for the buck.

      2. Veteran failures is a bit harsh, Luizzi and Heidfeld have never driven a top car.

    7. One has to say Bruno should’ve at least been faster than Maldonado. Williams is so much worse than the Renault. I hope pulls it off tomorrow in quali or things aren’t looking good for him.

      1. It’s FP2, it means aproximately nothing. Just look at the times, do you really think 9 drivers are faster than Vettel? It doesn’t matter even where Bruno will put the car in qualifying, it’s all about the race and I sense he’s gonna end up in a wall.

        1. Being half a lap in front or behind made a huge difference in times, but Webber was very consistently at the top due to being out there and improving each lap. No doubt Vettel will use the data to good effect.

    8. My feelings are quiter the opposite for Schumacher now, I used to resent him and saw him as a bit of a brat. But now watching him attempt to overcome adversity without the best equipment, and only the fourth best car, leaves me finding myself actually admiring him more, especially for his conduct. I’m hardly a Schumi fan, but you have to respect his character.

    9. Bruno Senna and Micheal Schumacher are really devaluing the achievements of Ayrton and Ralf respectively.

      Ayrton and Ralf would have wanted their respective relatives to quit immediately.

      1. Yes I am sure that Ralph is worried about his reputation being tarnished by Michael.

      2. Why?
        They are doing what they love, wouldn’t anyone want them to do that? They might not set the world on fire, but why should they care? Schumacher could have reason to quit, but Senna has a long time in front of him. If he can get some running in a good car, then that might show the world what he is really made of. Maybe even seal him a deal with Renault for the future which could lead to him winning races one day if he is lucky and the car turns out well.
        And even that don’t really matter, Bruno loves racing, and if he can just keep his seat for as long as possible and have the time of his life, then why wouldn’t we want him to do that?

      3. Ralf Schumacher has how many world titles to his name?

        1. OVER 9000
          Seriously though, I really don’t get how Airon thought Michael was devaluing Ralf’s achievements. What achievements, exactly?
          As for Bruno, just because his uncle was a triple world champion doesn’t mean that he has no right to race in F1. Graham Hill was a world champion, and was nicknamed Mr Monaco, and is regarded as one of the greats, but that didn’t stop Damon did it? He turned out to be a world champion as well (potentially double if he hadn’t been taken out at Adelaide in ’94).
          I wish all this Bruno bashing would stop, give the guy a break for God’s sake. All this “he’s only there because his name is Senna” and “he’s a pay driver with no talent” etc is utter BS. IIRC, he was a GP2 champion, or at least a runner-up, and a HRT F110 really does not give a true indication of pace. Remember, Senna was considered for the Brawn drive alongside Button before Barrichello signed up. Imagine how that would have turned out?
          You cannot judge a driver’s pace after a season in a HRT and 3 practice sessions in a midfield car that is slipping backwards very quickly.
          Maybe we can judge him at the end of the season, or at the end of next season. Not now.

          1. Well made point! I wish him the best of luck.

          2. Just consider what Uncle Ayrton said about him… ;-)

            Can anyone confirm – Bruno Senna didn’t use his uncle’s name initially in his career for fear of that? Am I wrong with this?

            Oddly enough, I remember an interview with the late Henry Surtees, and he reckoned that having a famous father who was successful in motorsport was actually a hindrance. Incidentally, anyone think that Henry Surtees was really quite considerably younger than his father?

            1. Certainly. The age gap between the two was huge. Or John Surtees has aged terribly!

    10. Hulkenberg in FP2?

      1. Yes, he was.

    11. I’m not sure but are many people talking about how impressive Sergio Perez is in his rookie year?

      1. People are talking about it. I’d say he’s been rookie of the year so far.

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