Rookie F1

Free Practice 1

• Ferrari: Massa complains of something (possibly his helmet) giving him a lot of push and being heavy, he comes into the pitstop for a new front wing and returns to the track. Lots of flo-vis paints on the rear wing and a closer look at the  Ferrari shows a reprofiled windscreen, Massa exits his car and proceeds to give his opinion to his helmet supplier.
• Force India: Sutil goes out on the full wets and is asked to return to the garage if it’s too wet. Di Resta goes off at turn 9 similar to Senna, but hits the tyre barrier side on.
• Hispania: Liuzzi, with half an hour to go, has only completed one lap.
• Lotus: Trulli does a bit of rallying across the grass as he heads back to the garages as the rain falls. Chandhok is in for Kovalainen for the morning. Trulli has a 360° spin the same place as he did earlier, but misses the gravel.
• McLaren: Hamilton will be pleased the gravel trap at Rivage has been switched for asphalt. Hamilton goes out on the intermediates but aquaplanes massively and returns to the garage. Button and Hamilton are running two different wing angles, Button is running with lower. Hamilton tries out an ever steeper angled rear wing. Reprofiled exhausts on Button’s car, slight s-bend around the engine cover.
• Mercedes: Schumacher has got  a golden helmet for the weekend to celebrate his 20th racing anniversary. As the rains falls Schumacher and Rosberg are the only ones who have set a time. Schumacher went off at Pouhon and briefly got the yellow flags out.
• Red Bull: They look to be running a Valencia set up this weekend, and their rear wing is noticeably narrower. Vettel is the first one out after the rains stopped, but is told to take it easy by his engineer. Webber gets a lap in with half an hour to go and sets the fastest time in the wet.
• Renault: Senna is starting his first full weekend for Renault this morning. Heidfeld apparently attempted to implement an injunction for this weekend. Senna loses the car at turn 9, bashing the rear wing and rear left tyre as he goes backwards into the tyres, ending the session for himself. Petrov has several people working on his car to redistribute the weight around for better balance.
• Sauber: Kobayashi is out early and gets a couple of laps in before most of pit lane is awake. Perez briefly leaves the track at the bus stop chicane as he returns to the pits. Perez manages to annoy Alonso somehow, as the rookie zips past the Spaniard he is presented with a hard wave of disgust.
• Toro-Rosso: With half an hour to go Buemi puts in the fourth fastest time.
• Williams: Brand new rear wing has been fitted with a deeply sculpted middle section (it looks like someone’s sat on it).
• Virgin: D’Ambrosio is looking forward to racing and home, saying the pressure he feels in a positive influence.
  

Top FP1 times:

Read: Full FP1 Results

Free Practice 2:

• Ferrari: Alonso is the first on slicks and goes significantly quicker with them on, the team is trying to get data before the rain falls. Massa takes his time leaving the garage.
• Force India: Hulkenberg is in for Sutil. Di Resta is still having his car worked on with an hour to go.
• Hispania: Geoff Willis, talking to BBC Radio 5 Live, says that the team probably won’t use KERS next year due to cost.
• Lotus: Kovalainen reports that his car is unstable under breaking, some time later he spins at Rivage.
• McLaren: Hamilton feels some vibration from his brakes as he goes for a lap on the slicks. But when the duo eventually get on track they put in some very handy times.
• Mercedes: Schumacher locks his front left and runs through a chicane. Both Rosberg and Schumacher get some good times in as they spend much of the afternoon near the top.
• Red Bull: Webber has certainly found his sweet spot around the circuit as he took chucks of time off his P1 time as the track dries early in the session. Vettel dominates the top of the table as the dry line appears around the track, but Webber takes over when he put the softs on.
• Renault: The team had fixed Senna’s car in time for the afternoon session and he rewarded them with a clean sheet, and a brief moment in P1. Petrov missed the dry running in his car as a steering issue was being dealt with.
• Sauber: A quiet session for the team as Perez out paces Kobayashi.
• Toro-Rosso: Both Alguersuari and Buemi did well out of the improving conditions, and spent some time at the sharp end before slipping back to the midfield.
• Williams: Maldonado goes off at Blanchimont.
• Virgin: Glock has a spin as he rejoins the track after the rain brings the drivers back to garage.
  

Top FP2 times:

Read: Full FP2 Results