Free Practice 2: Williams unleashes the heavy cavalry in Barcelona

The second Free Practice session of the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix was largely dominated by the Williams-Toyota drivers. The Grove team indeed placed its two drivers at the forefront; Rosberg ahead of Nakajima. Running very light on fuel, Fernando Alonso also got a piece of the action, while so far only four drivers have managed to break the 82-second lap barrier. McLaren, BMW, and Ferrari are a second off the best times… Toyota is far behind.

The weather conditions, despite the forecasts, are rather mild this afternoon. It’s 24°C in the air, over 35°C on the track. With the good times this morning, BMW is hopeful and sends Robert Kubica out first to set a benchmark time. The Pole is on soft tires. He then battles lap after lap with Nelson Piquet Junior’s R29-03 and its double diffuser. The two men trade the fastest lap five times before Timo Glock comes on track to claim it.

After twenty minutes of the session, Williams finally comes out to set lap times. Nakajima takes on the task and holds the first position, on hard tires, mid-session. He is surpassed by Vettel after 35 minutes, before regaining the lead. The Japanese driver keeps his good time until ten minutes before the end of the session. His teammate, Nico Rosberg, improves by more than 150 milliseconds.

In the end, only Alonso and Barrichello were able to compete with the Williams today. The Renault driver, at home, proves that his fans can count on him on Sunday. In 5th place, we find the first Red Bull; that of Mark Webber. The Australian, who no longer limps at all after his bicycle accident this winter, is ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel by 50 thousandths. Jenson Button slots in between the two RB5s to secure 6th place, 46 hundredths behind the leader.

Piquet takes 8th position. The Brazilian had a great day so far, finding smiles at Renault. He is ahead of Buemi and Räikkönen. Bourdais follows the pack, just over a second behind Rosberg. The Toro Rosso team made modifications this weekend and they seem to be paying off. This is not the case for Ferrari, with Massa only in 15th place. McLaren and BMW are also not having a good time. Hamilton is only in 13th place, ahead of his teammate. The BMWs, despite being in good shape this morning, are only 16th and 17th.

Toyota cars are also in trouble. Trulli and Glock are positioned in 18th and 19th place, at the back – but apparently with a lot of fuel. They are ahead of Adrian Sutil. The Force India driver did not set a time due to a battery problem. Fisichella, on the other hand, made significant progress; he placed the VJM02 in 13th place.

In addition to the Sutil case, several other issues are to be reported. Buemi notably experienced brake problems, parking his car by the side of the track after 40 minutes of the session. Rosberg, on the other hand, couldn’t finish the last 5 minutes of the session, likely due to a hydraulic issue. Nelson Piquet made two mistakes, including a spin, while Räikkönen and Massa also went too wide in certain corners. Nick Heidfeld, Timo Glock, and Lewis Hamilton are also affected.

Free Practice 1 Results – Barcelona – Friday, May 8, 2009