Live Commenting: Turkey - Free Practice 1
Formula 1 returns to Istanbul Park in Turkey for only the fourth time in the track’s short history and this time it’s appearing much earlier in the F1 calendar.
How much difference will this make to the on track action? Well it’s much colder than previous years and that may have caught Bridgestone out a little bit. Today will be something of a leap into the unknown for both them and the teams, especially in the cooler first session when the track is less rubbered-in.
Don’t hold your breath but there has been a rumoured threat of rain, which, should it come to fruition is bound to mess up the teams plans and further confuse the tyre data.
Free Practice 1 is a 90 minute session and it begins at 10am local time (8am in the UK). We’re following Formula 1’s live timing screens and watching ITV’s online coverage.
A handy track guide is available from Allianz should you need a reminder about corner names and speeds.
Christine will be with us for all of the first session and a most of the second one. We’ll do our best to be the eyes and ears of anyone who’s unable to watch.
Yell if you’re around, won’t you? And do let us know any of your early weekend predictions.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:47 amChristine said:
For reference - pole position in 2007 was Massa with 1m 27.329s.
Oh, and hi.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:48 amJourneyer said:
I’m around - at work! So no telly for me.
Ferrari’s 2 drivers are the only ones who have won here. I’m guessing it will be Raikkonen-Massa, but Massa-Raikkonen is also very possible.
Who’s gonna be third? I like Hamilton’s chances. He had a mega drive here in GP2 2006, and should’ve been 3rd here last year. Kovy or Kubica could also make it to the final step.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:50 amme said:
howdy journeyer, will do our best to keep you up-to-date with the visuals, as yet the tv feed hasn’t started.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:53 amJourneyer said:
I’ll keep live timing on, but I’ll only peek from time to time. How well do you think will Renault fare?
May 9th, 2008 at 7:53 amScott Woodwiss said:
*yawn* Hi, I’m here, albeit rather sleepy
May 9th, 2008 at 7:55 amme said:
first tv pictures show relatively empty stands. the fans look chilly but sky is blue.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:56 amme said:
morning sir.
last year alonso had a very poor race, never looking in it, or a match for his teammate. his sounds a little more motivated this year though.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:57 amme said:
race control reporting turns 3 & 9 are wet due to late cleaning.
pictures show a thick black streak of damnp track running through them.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:58 amScott Woodwiss said:
What on earth?! A wet track because the cleaners have been out?
May 9th, 2008 at 7:59 amScott Woodwiss said:
Rosberg’s on inters.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:59 amme said:
piquet know this track though doesn’t he?
maybe he’ll have a better race, god knows he needs one. let’s pitch the two drivers at 5th & 6th with alonso ahead.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:00 amDank said:
This morning is the lowest air temp of any session this season. Be interesting to see who can get their tyres working for them.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:00 amScott Woodwiss said:
Sutil the first man out.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:00 amLadySnowcat said:
Are you guys listening to 5Live Extra…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:01 amDank said:
Button on inters as well.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:01 amme said:
if it’s been declared a wet track i guess they have no choice. that’s not going to be fun going out on those is it?
a poor showing from the track organisers already then. they’ll be complaints later
May 9th, 2008 at 8:02 amme said:
tv replay shows fisi exiting the pits whilst they’re still closed! oops.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:02 amDank said:
Yup. Listen to it on 5Live Extra and have the live timings up on in a different window. I don’t bother with the live feed on ITV as it’s a bit hit-and-miss.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:02 amScott Woodwiss said:
Yes, the track was red when Fisi left. Does this mean he’s in trouble?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:03 amme said:
cheers, no forgot. am now.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:04 amScott Woodwiss said:
Everyone looks to be doing installation laps right now, as usual.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:05 amLadySnowcat said:
I can’t get onto ITV at all…
But the 5Live commentary is good…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:05 amme said:
during a race, that’s a black flag right? no idea what happens in practice, but he’d back in the garage now.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:05 amChristine said:
Will we see more action in the FPs because they don’t know Turkey as well as they do Barca?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:07 amScott Woodwiss said:
McLarens the first to run flying laps.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:07 amme said:
once the slower cars have cleared the damp corners then yup… hopefully
May 9th, 2008 at 8:07 amLadySnowcat said:
They are on the fourth year now… I don’t think they need extra for that…
It’ll depend on the weather…if it was damp overnight that’s interesting as it’s previously been an August race so I don’t think they’ve had any wet running to date…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:07 amAlianora La Canta said:
Finally - I’ve managed to get the computer to connect to the internet…
Nice decal on Barrichello’s car.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:08 amScott Woodwiss said:
Red Bull are running front wheel bins, just spotted. The front wing also has some pieces on the endplates.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:09 amme said:
honda still running those daft rabbit ears on the nose.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:10 amAlianora La Canta said:
I’ve never heard of anyone exiting the pits against the red lights in a free practice session. My guess is that the result will be a fine, but there’s no telling with the FIA these days.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:10 amScott Woodwiss said:
Heidfeld saying “peace” in the cockpit there.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:11 amAlianora La Canta said:
Ok, someone’s whistling on the sound channel…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:11 amScott Woodwiss said:
Oh look, Alonso looks miserable. No change there then
May 9th, 2008 at 8:12 amChristine said:
Vettel’s team radio says they’re gonna wait for the track to dry up. What if they all decide to wait? It’ll never get dry.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:12 amAlianora La Canta said:
Turns 6-9 still wet?
1) Hope the cars on inters waited for circuit control to declare a change in climatic conditions first, else they’re going to be in trouble
2) Don’t expect any more action for a long while. Wonder what the Turkish sing when they’re bored?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:13 amScott Woodwiss said:
Every time I look at that Honda with those ridiculous ears on the front, from the side, I always think Rolls-Royce.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:13 amChristine said:
Just Ferrari’s and Toyotas to go out.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:14 amme said:
confirmed. the call came late and the teams had to switch to inters.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:15 amDank said:
Sutil on 5Live: I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk before?!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:15 amAlianora La Canta said:
Thanks for that, me.
Nice pit garage fronts, by the way.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:16 amScott Woodwiss said:
Force India have 3 pitboxes! That’s more than McLaren, isn’t it?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:18 amme said:
dry line appearing through 3 and 9 now.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:18 amScott Woodwiss said:
Looks like the Ferraris are prepping for their install laps.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:18 amAlianora La Canta said:
Naturally. They are further up the pit lane, after all…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:19 amAlianora La Canta said:
Adrian Sutil looks very bored.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:19 amScott Woodwiss said:
Just noticed that the Toyotas are without their wheelbins.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:19 amChristine said:
Now just Ferrari left to go out.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:19 amLadySnowcat said:
The pits are pretty spacious there as it is a new track…
Pretty Nelson is in the car…ITV is working now…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:20 amLadySnowcat said:
Ferrari won’t go out until the track is dry…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:20 amScott Woodwiss said:
Alonso still looking miserable.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:20 amme said:
20mins gone then, no cars out on track and most drivers are wandering around the pitlane / garages.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:21 amAlianora La Canta said:
Heikki’s car doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere at the moment - but it’s nice just to see him back after the crash last time out.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:22 amScott Woodwiss said:
WOW! I think a pigeon just hit my window!
Sorry, back to F1.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:23 amLadySnowcat said:
Do most of the guys have new engines?…
I know Ferrari’s were new for Barce as they changed after Oz…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:23 amAlianora La Canta said:
I think Nico’s the only person in the last 5 minutes who’s managed to feign interest in matters as they stand. Well, except for the kid who looked like he was enjoying his fruit juice. Dry, silly track, dry!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:25 amAlianora La Canta said:
New engine brigade:
Heidfeld, both Renaults, both Williamses, Glock, both Toro Rossos, Barrichello, Sutil and both McLarens.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:26 amme said:
in some ways i do like it, only because we get to see more behind the scenes tv stuff.
not great for the action though.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:26 amAlianora La Canta said:
The same people are also the only ones to have fresh gearboxes.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:27 amme said:
cheers. do happen to have gearbox status’ too?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:27 amDank said:
Someone wake me up when something happens… ZZZZzzzz
May 9th, 2008 at 8:27 amAlianora La Canta said:
We do see more behind-the-scenes stuff… …but most of the people we’re watching have probably seen enough behind-the-scenes stuff before the cameras got rolling…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:28 amAlianora La Canta said:
That was an amusing shot just there. I assume it was part of the helicopter that was providing the over-the-transporters view…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:29 amAlianora La Canta said:
Felipe Massa just joking with his race engineer, Rob Smedley. Clearly they’re good friends
May 9th, 2008 at 8:29 amme said:
awww. yeah, this might be the quietest of the session.
le seb has got back into his car though.
anyone want to take a punt on when the 1st car will do a flying lap?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:30 amAlianora La Canta said:
Is it me or is that an engine I hear being fired up in or near the McLaren garage?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:31 amAlianora La Canta said:
14 minutes’ time (i.e. 45 minutes before the end of the session)?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:31 amScott Woodwiss said:
Aww, anyone who’s not listening to 5 Live , they just talked about back in 2006 when Renault, the champions that year, took some bottles of champagne down to Super Aguri in recognition of their first year effort. How nice!
I wonder if that’s how Renault managed to get Yamamoto.
I also noticed that Bridgestone tyre technician. I don’t think he’s checking the temperature for data, he’s just finding something to do other than sit around and wait for something to happen!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:32 amme said:
even the tv director’s fallen asleep
May 9th, 2008 at 8:32 amDank said:
“No sign of any car coming out, which is just rubbish” - David Croft, 5Live.
Pretty much summed that up well
May 9th, 2008 at 8:34 amme said:
last race, teams left it quite late in the day before coming out in FP1, and then went on to regret lack of running a bit later.
that’s going to happen again today isn’t it?
who’ll be the first to break?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:34 amAlianora La Canta said:
Yamamoto was at Spyker before he was at McLaren. So unless McLaren were taking bottles of champagne to them as well, I would assume that the ones to Super Aguri were a genuine gesture of appreciation.
The Bridgestone technician has the right idea. As does David Croft.
Nakajima’s just had a wind speed check.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:35 amScott Woodwiss said:
^^ Agreed. Can we have something happen please?
I don’t think the track is that wet now. I mean, only Turn 3 is wet apparently. why not just get a couple of cars out and dry it up
Ah, although I have just seen that huge patch of wet.
I could have just stayed asleep and I wouldn’t have missed anything
May 9th, 2008 at 8:36 amme said:
interesting that the poor track organisation happens at the track bernie owns!
someone ought to call him
May 9th, 2008 at 8:37 amAlianora La Canta said:
So there are two wet parts of the circuit (turns 3 and 6-9)?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:37 amDank said:
Oil leak in Alonso’s car at the moment. The lack of running going in their favour then!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:38 amAlianora La Canta said:
Good point, me.
Though I think someone has the solution to our boredom. Someone in the Red Bull garage just shouted “run round the garage”. If Mark’s going to do that in his car, then he’d better not do what Nick Heidfeld did at a demo run in his factory and crash into a wall…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:38 amme said:
seeing as it’s a bit quite at the moment, how is everyone finding comment editing today?
this is the first race weekend we’ve run it at, please yell if you spot any issues, or things get slow etc.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:38 amScott Woodwiss said:
AT LAST!!! Bourdais has broken the silence!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:39 amAlianora La Canta said:
Not tested comment editing yet.
Alonso’s actually started to look happy… …and Sebastien Bourdais is running! As is Kovalainen! Someone wake up Dank!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:39 amme said:
there were at the start, and nobody really knows why. not sure if it’s just 3 that’s the problem.
croftie suggesting on 5live that the weather data is screwed too!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:39 amSidepodcastFan said:
Finally!!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:40 amScott Woodwiss said:
Comment editing is working A-OK so far
May 9th, 2008 at 8:40 amAlianora La Canta said:
Having now tested comment editing, it works fine, but is rather slow.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:42 amAlianora La Canta said:
Weather isn’t loading at all for me. Maybe someone’s onto it.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:42 amme said:
it’s going to be a busy last 40-somthing minutes. anyone see what tyres le seb is running?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:43 amAlianora La Canta said:
And Kovalainen floors Bourdais’ time, as you’d expect a McLaren to do to a Toro Rosso.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:43 amScott Woodwiss said:
Nakajima now on track.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:43 amLadySnowcat said:
Cold damp and slippy…
Ideal for Kimi…
Not that I’m biased but he nearly always does well when the track is horrid… even last year when he hadn’t tuned the Ferrari in….
May 9th, 2008 at 8:43 amKathi said:
normal tyres without stripes - so softs?
Hi
May 9th, 2008 at 8:44 amScott Woodwiss said:
Harder compound tyre for Le Seb
May 9th, 2008 at 8:45 amAlianora La Canta said:
It’ll be the harder of the two dry compounds, but I’m not sure what compound that is. The two compounds are medium and hard, so Scott is correct about Le Seb’s tyre choice.
ITV is starting to stutter.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:45 amme said:
hi kathi. cheers, just checking they weren’t still on inters.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:46 amChristine said:
Are Ferrari just being aloof or do they have a problem?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:46 amLadySnowcat said:
Interesting comment about Macca benefiting from a cooler environment…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:47 amScott Woodwiss said:
Kazuki’s spun, according to 5 Live
May 9th, 2008 at 8:47 amAlianora La Canta said:
Oops. Nakajima has spun…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:47 amLadySnowcat said:
Ferrari never ever come out before the track is right and rarely do an installation lap….
May 9th, 2008 at 8:48 amme said:
sutil running a touch wide. we should see some more of that… where’s piquet?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:48 amAlianora La Canta said:
Nakajima’s recorded a 46.5 first sector, so he lost about 14 seconds in that incident.
Meanwhile, Sutil takes a novel line through a corner and ends up cutting it…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:49 amAlianora La Canta said:
Everyone apart from Kovalainen and Glock looks slow
And I’ve now passed Steven Roy for the Sidepodcast Turkish GP podium…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:50 amme said:
YAY!
trulli spins as well.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:51 amChristine said:
Trulli spun it.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:51 amKathi said:
lewis spun
May 9th, 2008 at 8:51 amScott Woodwiss said:
Hamilton spins too
May 9th, 2008 at 8:51 amAlianora La Canta said:
I think it’s fair to say that Sutil hasn’t figured out the correct line yet - that’s the second time he’s erred this session and he’s only done 5 laps so far!
Meanwhile, Rosberg goes a bit wide and Trulli spins (unconnected to each other). Trulli lost 16 seconds in his pirouette.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:51 amLadySnowcat said:
Lewis having a whoopsy…
I wonder if Heikki can be fully back on it….
May 9th, 2008 at 8:51 amme said:
big spin there, close with the BMW.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:52 amChristine said:
AND Hamilton? What is going on?
May 9th, 2008 at 8:52 amAlianora La Canta said:
Hamilton’s obviously picked up the bad habits, as he’s now lost 15 seconds doing his own tarmac dancing!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:52 amLadySnowcat said:
Kimi out…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:53 amKathi said:
Kimi 9th 2,5s behind Kova
May 9th, 2008 at 8:54 amKathi said:
Massa spun
May 9th, 2008 at 8:54 amme said:
dusty track and little bit damp, giving next to no grip.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:54 amScott Woodwiss said:
Massa off as well!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:54 amAlianora La Canta said:
The Ferraris definitely need to do some calibration work…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:55 amme said:
massa spinning
May 9th, 2008 at 8:55 amAlianora La Canta said:
Not the spinning sort, Felipe!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:55 amLadySnowcat said:
Kimi’s gone in for an aero change…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:56 amAlianora La Canta said:
Lewis still hasn’t cracked the precise technical demands of this circuit, and I’m not sure about Kimi…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:56 amChristine said:
Wow, they’re spending more time off the track than on it!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:57 amAlianora La Canta said:
Heidfeld’s times should be ignored. He’s clearly concentrating on endurance running this session.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:58 amKathi said:
Didn’t Bernie suggest some time ago, that the best way to improve the race would be to clean the track from all the rubber between Sat and Sunday. Perhaps he was testing it. Seems to work
May 9th, 2008 at 8:58 amme said:
the track is becoming a mess of 360deg loops of rubber, every corner looking like the M25 right now.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:58 amLadySnowcat said:
The Maccas sure look good on this cool track…I think that the next session will be a bit more representative…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:59 amAlianora La Canta said:
And now Fisi’s had a little spin. Still waiting for him to complete the next sector to assess how much time he lost through it…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:59 amme said:
hehe, yeah sorta killed the action earlier, but this is fun
May 9th, 2008 at 9:01 amme said:
massa fastest in sector 3, puts him 2nd.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:01 amAlianora La Canta said:
Oops. Kubica’s just explored the run-off. Somehow I don’t think he was overly bothered with endurance running…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:01 amLadySnowcat said:
Massa in the purple…
They are also forgetting that he’s done about the same number of laps as Heikki and Lewis…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:03 amme said:
honda running front wheel bins again. brawn suggested in the week they’re not reliable enough (am guessing during pitstops) to run in the race, but they’re trying again.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:03 amAlianora La Canta said:
Massa made an error in Sector 2, but I don’t know what sort of error yet…
Nice save - that was almost a spin. It seems that the same two corners are catching nearly everyone out.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:05 amme said:
with no super aguri’s around, kimi has done the least amount of laps, managing just 3 so far.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:06 amAlianora La Canta said:
Alonso’s just gone nice and wide…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:07 amme said:
tv camera showing a close-up of renault’s revised front wing (from last race). hadn’t seen it before, more info here:
http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2008/790/528.html
May 9th, 2008 at 9:08 amAlianora La Canta said:
Coulthard’s gone exploring…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:08 amme said:
dc wide at the exit of turn 8.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:09 amChristine said:
Alonso is still making progress in his Renault though - above Hamilton at the moment.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:09 amAlianora La Canta said:
Why has Rosberg recorded a 79-second first sector?
May 9th, 2008 at 9:09 amme said:
if it rains, let’s hope it happens saturday evening. it’d be quicker to list those not heading off track
croftie on his last legs in the 5live commentary box.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:12 amAlianora La Canta said:
What’s wrong in the 5Live commentary box?
Incidentally, even Kovalainen’s car has stepped out.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:12 amme said:
tv replay shows him going slowly, not sure.
kovi having a wobble in the entry to T8.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:12 amme said:
david croft having something of a coughing fit. doesn’t sound healthy.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:14 amLadySnowcat said:
Nico will have gone through the pits to do a start at the end before rejoining…
They all do it at least once during the weekend…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:14 amAlianora La Canta said:
I don’t think Nelson’s car is co-operating with him…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:14 amme said:
piquet turning right into a left-hander. atta-boy!
May 9th, 2008 at 9:14 amLadySnowcat said:
David Croft smokes…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:16 amAlianora La Canta said:
Poor David.
Sutil’s car handling looks evil.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:16 amme said:
both STR drivers propping up the timesheets, coulthard only one place ahead of them.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:17 amLadySnowcat said:
Let’s hope Kimi does actually get out…
With the tyre warmers on it looks hopeful…
I hope the pics are behind the actual action….
May 9th, 2008 at 9:19 amme said:
usually live timing is ahead of the pics and 5live behind everyone.
am listening to 5live online, may be better on DAB?
May 9th, 2008 at 9:20 amLadySnowcat said:
I am on 5Live via Sky….
May 9th, 2008 at 9:21 amChristine said:
Autosport Live says mechanics are working furiously on the back of Kimi’s Ferrari and probably won’t get out again this session.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:21 amAlianora La Canta said:
Alonso’s had a dodgy first sector - four seconds down on the pace…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:22 amLadySnowcat said:
Oh no….
Gearbox…
He isn’t due a new gearbox here…
He changed in Oz… and we are on the fourth since then…
How many grid places back?….
Five isn’t it?….
May 9th, 2008 at 9:23 amAlianora La Canta said:
And now Massa goes wandering over the Turn 8 run-off. It seems to be very popular today.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:24 amAlianora La Canta said:
Gearboxes and engines can be replaced on Friday without penalty. So Kimi should be fine.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:24 amDank said:
Massa flying here. 1:27.596!
May 9th, 2008 at 9:25 amSidepodcastFan said:
Button up 6th
May 9th, 2008 at 9:26 amDank said:
Massa again. Purple S1, S2… 1:27.323
May 9th, 2008 at 9:27 amAlianora La Canta said:
Here we go again… …Sutil’s gone off at Turn 10. And still managed to regain the track. This doesn’t auger well for his race. Evidently sorting out that business with the old computer hard drive hasn’t made him any more consistent
May 9th, 2008 at 9:27 amChristine said:
1:27.323 juuuust faster than last year’s pole.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:27 amAlianora La Canta said:
Fisi’s just recorded a sector 1 time four seconds off the norm, which probably means he’s explored a gravel trap too.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:27 amChristine said:
I miss Lou - she’d be so excited
May 9th, 2008 at 9:27 amLadySnowcat said:
Can they be replaced even if you are on the four race limit…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:29 amme said:
damnit, internet died in the last minutes of the session. on 3g modem now. what did i miss?
May 9th, 2008 at 9:29 amLadySnowcat said:
Heikki on options…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:29 amAlianora La Canta said:
Gearboxes can be replaced on Fridays no matter what the reason. It’s Saturdays and Sundays when they have a penalty.
Now I’m curious as to what could possibly have obliged Alonso to take a whole minute to do Sector 1 last lap.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:31 amDank said:
Good to see all Red Bull related cars propping up the the bottom end of the time sheet!
May 9th, 2008 at 9:31 amAlianora La Canta said:
Several people (both Force Indias, Massa, Alonso) had problems staying on the track. Kimi’s gearbox is in the process of being replaced (he shouldn’t get a penalty) and Rosberg appears to have had some sort of gremlin. Possibly Alonso as well, but both are running fine now.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:32 amAlianora La Canta said:
And Massa is top of the timesheets and has been for much of the session. When he was on the road, he was rapid.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:32 amme said:
jeez, that is quite a poor showing!
May 9th, 2008 at 9:33 amAlianora La Canta said:
Force Indias in 14th and 15th, just ahead of the Red Bull conglomerate. This is going to be a long weekend for them…
May 9th, 2008 at 9:33 amLadySnowcat said:
Alonso would have done what Nico did….
Gone through the pits and practiced a start before rejoining…
Neither had gremlins….
May 9th, 2008 at 9:35 amChristine said:
Button ended up 5th and Barrichello 8th which isn’t bad for Honda.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:36 amAlianora La Canta said:
OK, thanks for that, Lady Snowcat. Good to know they were OK after all.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:36 amLadySnowcat said:
ITV have just replayed Fisi’s early start mistake….
May 9th, 2008 at 9:37 amme said:
story of his life isn’t it?
May 9th, 2008 at 9:37 amAlianora La Canta said:
Is it me or did one of the Force Indias crash into another car at some point?
May 9th, 2008 at 9:39 amChristine said:
A great compilation of all the on-track errors on ITV.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:39 amAlianora La Canta said:
Summary of Free Practise 1 in one word:
Messy
May 9th, 2008 at 9:40 amme said:
what do we make of that session then?
button did well to finish in 5th didn’t he? nakajima way ahead of his teammate.
we’ll be around all morning and a new thread will open around 11:30am. i have to go shoot our broadband provider in the meantime
May 9th, 2008 at 9:41 amSidepodcastFan said:
If I may ….. Wall staring?
May 9th, 2008 at 9:42 amAlianora La Canta said:
OK, me. Try not to be too violent towards the ISP - I want to see you be able to manage the next session
May 9th, 2008 at 9:43 amLadySnowcat said:
Summary for me…
Worrying…
But then I support the Kimster….
May 9th, 2008 at 9:48 amme said:
haha. it’s actually not so bad on the 3G anyway, but it struggles with ITV feed.
if any team regret going at so late, i’m betting it’ll be them. unless he’s doing a schumi and getting massa to do all his work for him?
May 9th, 2008 at 9:53 amChristine said:
My one-word sum up for FP1 is wobbly.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:57 amDank said:
Non FP1 related news: New F1 computer game on the way!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67228
Good news, the last GP game I played was Super Monaco on my Sega Megadrive!
May 9th, 2008 at 10:04 amAlianora La Canta said:
Yay - a PC edition is going to come out. Though the only Codemasters racing title I’ve ever tried was Colin McRae 1, and I found the controls on that way too difficult (I use the keyboard because my racing wheel won’t fit on my desk, even after the keyboard is tidied away).
May 9th, 2008 at 10:05 amLadySnowcat said:
I don’t think they regret going late me…
After all they wouldn’t have got the gearbox fixed in a few extra minutes that would have given them…
Fingers and toes currently crossed…
May 9th, 2008 at 10:10 amme said:
so bernie was playing dirty with sony then? i’m assuming codemasters couldn’t afford the price tag FOM have been banding around lately (more $200m).
May 9th, 2008 at 10:11 amme said:
true, fair point, but they’d be less rushed now if they’d at least done a slighter lap wouldn’t they?
May 9th, 2008 at 10:19 amme said:
by the way, that was a pretty damn close guess in the end. you have inside info alianora?
May 9th, 2008 at 10:19 amLadySnowcat said:
That may well be true but they never ever go out when the track is unsuitable and in truth most people didn’t… I don’t think an installation lap would have helped… but we’ll see…
I think Macca could have a good package for qualy….
May 9th, 2008 at 10:26 amAlianora La Canta said:
No me, I don’t have inside info. However, the time that people went out was going to be dictated by when the corners dried sufficiently for it to be worth the bother. I thought it would take about 15 minutes for the damp corners to be nearly dry, given that Istanbul has decent drainage. Also, nearly everyone had already done an installation lap at the beginning (or before the beginning in Fisi’s case…) The slight adjustment was to fit in with session timings (it’s a lot easier to check if someone went out 45 minutes before the end of the session than 44 minutes).
Evidently, the teams decided the track was dry enough a little earlier than I thought.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:26 amAlianora La Canta said:
I would have to agree with Lady Snowcat - McLaren does look good for qualifying.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:27 amme said:
i’d agree with that. of the two, would you pitch for kovi or lewis to be in front?
May 9th, 2008 at 10:29 amAlianora La Canta said:
Kovalainen - he’s been tidier and more consistent so far.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:37 amScott Woodwiss said:
Sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention at the end of the session - did I miss anything?
I do hope McLaren are back on form. They need it after quite a difficult couple of races.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:49 amme said:
i missed the last 5mins too. but not too much as far as i can tell. fp2, should give us a better idea.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:51 amLadySnowcat said:
Ferrari are frightening….
As in frighteningly quick in long runs on the track and as in frighteningly broken for the Kimster…
And as in frighteningly slow to get into their faster laps…
Macca in Heikki’s hands look quickly quick and pretty nailed in as second to Ferrari in ultimate speed…
May 9th, 2008 at 1:51 pmme said:
times at end of fp1:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:03 pmlou said:
YAY! Button ended up 5th! ehehe brilliant! Thats made my rather tiring day! Oh i missed live commenting today.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:24 pmme said:
before you ask - cause i know you’ll notice and you probably don’t have time to read every one - comment editing has been temporarily disabled because it doesn’t scale very well.
we’ll turn it back in on monday and work on tweaking the solution before monaco
May 9th, 2008 at 7:44 pmlou said:
lol had already read them but thanks
Thats good, I can understand it could cause troubles with the site. I will just have to try even harder not to make mistakes 
forgive me im soo crap at spelling! (you have probably noticed).
May 10th, 2008 at 10:43 amAlianora La Canta said:
UPDATE: I’m experimenting with how best to get the spreadsheet to calculate the sector data, with some test data in place.