|
On the day
that Scuderia Ferrari announced that Kimi Raikkonen had
extended his agreement with the team, so that he will
wear the Ferrari red race suit until the end of 2010,
the Finn set the fastest time of the day, while Felipe
Massa, less happy with the behaviour of his F2008, was
sixth. The predicted rain arrived with a vengeance this
morning, turning much of the morning session into a
complete washout, as the sky went black and thunder and
lightning made for a very dramatic looking Monza.
Because of the conditions, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
drivers only completed five laps each, with Kimi ending
up ninth fastest and Felipe, fourteenth, the last driver
to be credited with a time.
The
afternoon session began on a damp track, but conditions
improved as the sun made an appearance. Although all the
teams tested here the week before the Belgian Grand
Prix, the rain ensured the track conditions were very
different. The BMW-Saubers were on good form today, with
Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld setting the second and
third fastest times respectively. Series leader Lewis
Hamilton was fourth fastest for McLaren-Mercedes ahead
of the Williams-Toyota of Nico Rosberg. At the moment,
the forecast for this area is that there could be more
heavy rain tomorrow.
The first day of the Italian Grand Prix weekend was
characterised by variable weather. This morning, the
rain was the main event, to such an extent that in the
final minutes of the session, the red flag was put out
as the rain was falling so heavily. The second part
began on a still very damp track, until the sun shone
again, when there was forty five minutes of running with
dry tyres.
"The weather
was definitely the main feature today. Obviously, we
were unable to complete the usual Friday programme,
because it was only towards the end that the track was
really dry," commented Stefano Domenicali. "It was still
useful however to get some indication of how the car
goes in the wet, given that the forecast for the rest of
the weekend is definitely not encouraging, especially
for tomorrow." From what we have seen, taking into
account the usual Friday afternoon unknowns, we can be
satisfied with our level of competitiveness. Kimi's
contract? We have always said that we are very happy
with our two drivers and it seemed natural to equalise
the lengths of both agreements."
Kimi Raikkonen: "I am pleased with how today
went. Step by step, the car finally seems to respond
well and I think we can be very quick here. The set-up
is good and I don't think that any rain that might fall
will represent a handicap. I will try and do my best, as
always. The contract? I am happy to be part of this
team, otherwise I wouldn't have signed! There's a good
atmosphere between us all and I continue to enjoy the
driving. So it was definitely not a difficult choice to
stay for one more year. Even in the most difficult
moments, we have continued to work hard and now we are
moving in the right direction. I am sure the results
will also come soon."
Felipe Massa: "I'm not 100% happy with the way
things went today. I struggled a bit to find the right
grip level on the first timed lap, unlike the others.
So, this means we still have to work to get it right,
but I am still confident. It all looks very close and we
must always take into account the unknown regarding how
much fuel everyone has run. I am happy that Kimi has
extended his contract: we have a good relationship and
it is important for a team to have stability."
Luca Baldisserri: "Clearly, today's work was
limited by the weather, which was particularly bad this
morning. Only when there was less than an hour to go to
the chequered flag were we able to run in the dry and
then the track conditions were very different to those
at the test. We are reasonably satisfied with what we
have seen, because the F2008 has confirmed it is
competitive, even on an unusual circuit like Monza. The
forecast for the rest of the weekend is not good and so
it was useful to be able to get some reference points as
to how the car works also on a wet track."
Free practice - First session
K. Raikkonen: 9th 1.37.392 5 laps chassis 271
F. Massa : 14th 1.40.233 5 laps chassis 269
Weather: air 23/19 °C, track 23/20 °C, overcast, rain,
sometimes very heavy.
Free Practice - Second session
K. Raikkonen: 1st 1.23.861 31 laps chassis 271
F. Massa : 6th 1.24.247 34 laps chassis 269
Weather: air 24/27 °C, track 26/30 °C, cloudy with a
damp track at first, then sunny and a dry track.
|
