F60‘s performance rediscovered
May 9, 2009
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Posted by
Staff
Barcelona – This season’s first GP on a European race track, at Montmelò, and the Ferrari F60 is right there. This is good news. Although, there’s also bad news for Raikkonen, who will only start from position 16, due to his elimination in Q1. Tomorrow Felipe will start from the second row from the fourth position. His best result so far in the qualifyings in 2009. Kimi will start from the eighth row, due to a mistake in estimating the situation during Q1. “The performance is there,” Stefano Domenicali said after the qualifying, “it’s a shame we used only half of it.”
One could already see during the third free practice session in the morning that the two Ferrari single-seaters were in top form: both did a lap in 1.20'5", which is more or less the same time it took Jenson Button to conquer the pole position for tomorrow’s race. Today Felipe was ready. He drove this morning’s best lap time and he was on top of the time sheet in Q1. In Q2 and Q3 he drove the fourth fastest times, with just four tenth behind the pole position’s lap time. Kimi set the same lap times with his new super-light chassis, missing Q2 by a whisker; he might have been able to gain a much better position on the grid, but now he’s got a difficult pursuit race ahead.
Sebastian Vettel managed to place his car between the two Brawn GP single-seaters on the grid, with his Red Bull teammate Webber on position five, right behind Massa, followed by the Toyotas with Glock and Trulli, Alonso on eight, Rosberg and Kubica. The reigning World Champion Hamilton will start from position 14. The temperatures during tomorrow’s race will be around 25C with the track temperatures at around 37/39C, which shouldn’t stress the tyres too much. The start will be a crucial moment, because overtaking is extremely difficult on this circuit. The F60, with its new aero package and the KERS, is ready for the challenge. We, the Ferraristi, have to believe in it: we need your support for tomorrow’s demanding race at 2 pm CEST.