Fernando Alonso put Ferrari on top as Spa finally saw dry running in the final practice session. The Ferrari driver set a best lap of 1’48.542.
With much of yesterday’s running disrupted by heavy rain, the teams were eager to make the most of the final hour of dry practice. Within moment of the session beginning the track was busy, several drivers going straight onto runs without doing installation laps.
Bruno Senna led the running early on, followed by the two Marussia drivers as most of the team concentrated on high fuel runs. Mercedes suffered a setback when Nico Rosberg pulled over at Rivage with a technical problem.
The Ferrari drivers came to the fore, Alonso leading the way with a 1’50.690. The F2012s were usually the quickest cars through the speed traps.
Sergio Perez briefly appeared at the top of the times but it was the Red Bull drivers who were quickest as the final ten minutes of the session began. Mark Webber set a 1’49.164, Sebastian Vettel just over a tenth of a second slower.
As the final runs began on the softer medium tyres it was Perez who returned to the top, setting a 1’48.850, with team mate Kamui Kobayashi just 0.013s slower.
But Alonso comfortably beat Perez’s mark by over three tenths of a second. Kimi Raikkonen, who had complained about the balance of his Lotus earlier in the session, was second on a 1’48.683.
The improvements pushed Mark Webber down to seventh place and Sebastrian Vettel ninth.
The McLaren drivers were outside the top ten as the final runs began. Jenson Button moved up to fifth place but was over half a second off Alonso’s best, while Lewis Hamilton could only manage 12th.
Combined practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 2’40.749 | 2’50.497 | 1’48.542 | -52.207 | 25 |
2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 2’46.580 | 1’48.683 | -57.897 | 30 | |
3 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 2’13.861 | 3’12.901 | 1’48.850 | -25.011 | 43 |
4 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 2’11.389 | 2’53.232 | 1’48.863 | -22.526 | 44 |
5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 2’16.861 | 1’49.091 | -27.77 | 28 | |
6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’49.092 | 20 | |||
7 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 2’13.191 | 1’49.164 | -24.027 | 34 | |
8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 2’38.701 | 1’49.266 | -49.435 | 32 | |
9 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 2’14.860 | 1’49.292 | -25.568 | 38 | |
10 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 2’15.812 | 2’51.333 | 1’49.382 | -26.43 | 36 |
11 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 2’11.941 | 2’51.660 | 1’49.561 | -22.38 | 41 |
12 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 2’16.827 | 1’49.615 | -27.212 | 26 | |
13 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 2’15.402 | 1’49.621 | -25.781 | 43 | |
14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 2’16.786 | 2’59.125 | 1’49.674 | -27.112 | 38 |
15 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 2’12.824 | 2’58.232 | 1’49.710 | -23.114 | 39 |
16 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 2’12.004 | 2’49.750 | 1’49.776 | -22.228 | 37 |
17 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1’50.027 | 23 | |||
18 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 2’18.199 | 1’52.339 | -25.86 | 32 | |
19 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 2’17.519 | 2’49.354 | 1’52.566 | -24.953 | 38 |
20 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 2’16.409 | 2’52.076 | 1’52.630 | -23.779 | 38 |
21 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 2’16.788 | 1’52.809 | -23.979 | 38 | |
22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 2’19.546 | 1’53.383 | -26.163 | 34 | |
23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1’53.562 | 23 | |||
24 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 2’14.210 | 1’58.113 | -16.097 | 22 | |
25 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 2’14.660 | 16 | |||
26 | Dani Clos | HRT-Cosworth | 2’19.689 | 12 |
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Eggry (@eggry)
1st September 2012, 11:10
Ferrari looks good but it seems Lotus sorted out cold weather problem. Also Sauber looks very promising!
sorin (@)
1st September 2012, 11:52
Who? Ferrari? But Alonso just said a couple a days ago that they have a bad car. This game is starting to ****** me of. I won’t listen what Alonso will say, ever..
xeroxpt (@)
1st September 2012, 11:14
This is going to be great! Guess the lack of practice may help the show, it’s the same from everyone and i’m sure that no one will be heavily hurt by that, but at least the spectators aren’t sure of who is what.
Zecks (@zecks)
1st September 2012, 11:15
Ah boy it’s good to be back watching F1! I think alonso is on for pole, but he will struggle in the race. A Lotus win is on the cards
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
1st September 2012, 11:18
The same way it was “on the cards” in Bahrain, Spain, Monaco, Canada, Valencia, Great Britain, Germany and Hungary?
Wishful thinking.
infy (@infy)
1st September 2012, 11:26
+1
They say the same thing every race.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
1st September 2012, 11:35
If Lotus happen to win tomorrow, it won’t be because they set a fast lap time in the final practice session of a disrupted weekend. It will be because they have finally sorted out their race management and strategy, which have been sorely lacking all year long. They have been tipped as race winners since April (at least), but have consistently failed to live up to expectations, so I’m more inclined to believe the historical precedent as being more representative of their performance as a team rather than a single lap time set by one driver.
tmekt (@tmekt)
1st September 2012, 11:35
Common factor with first wins is that they really are first. Just because something didn’t happen in the past doesn’t mean it won’t happen at all.
Let’s just watch the qualification before declaring anything “wishful thinking”
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
1st September 2012, 11:40
Jenson Button hasn’t won a race at Spa before. But hey, it didn’t happen in the past, so it can happen tomorrow.
Felipe Massa hasn’t been on the podium since Korea in 2010. But hey, it didn’t happen in the past, so it can happen tomorrow.
Caterham haven’t scored a single point since they joined the sport. But hey, it didn’t happen in the past, so it can happen tomorrow.
Do I need to go on?
BasCB (@bascb)
1st September 2012, 11:36
But at least Kimi looks to have gotten on top of their troubles getting the tyres to work in colder weather here, so it might be their time has come. That said, its hard not to see Ferrari is genuinly fast when both of them are in the top 6.
BBQ2
1st September 2012, 11:37
… but here is different PM, as Kimi likes Spa. Remember 5times visit and 4 wins and was even hunting for that elusive 2008 win until the rain set-in.
BTW, I am not a big fan of Kimi coming from his behaviour in Monaco GP after crashing-out instead of going for a DE-BRIEFING! He went onto his Yacht celebrating while the race was still on. :(
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
1st September 2012, 11:41
So do a lot of other drivers.
He cheated to win in 2009.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
1st September 2012, 11:20
I wonder if this is a sign for things to come or just typical practise jumbling. I’m favouring Räikkönen for the win and Vettel for pole.
Guccio (@concalvez00)
1st September 2012, 11:20
And these Alonso fans still thinks Alonso has the 10th faster car
Scottie (@scottie)
1st September 2012, 11:23
I can’t wait to watch the race! 4 ferraris in the top 6 places is impressive, and with Webbers grid penalty, it looks like it’s going to be a jumbled grid a bit…
going to be a fantastic race!
Nick (@npf1)
1st September 2012, 11:28
I’ve heard some talk of Raikkonen disagreeing with his engineer over the radio, does anyone know what was said?
BasCB (@bascb)
1st September 2012, 11:35
Early on he urged them to make the car “softer” – after that they changed tyre pressure.
Nick (@npf1)
1st September 2012, 11:56
Thanks!
Tete
1st September 2012, 11:38
I’m one of the biggest Alonso’s fans. And without a doubt I can tell you all that the Ferrari looks really fast. It seems to me that the upgrade they brought to this race has made them go a step foward. Massa and Alonso set up fast times lap after lap and you could tell they didn’t had to struggle with the car to do pretty decent times. Te cars looks fast and well balanced. It seems that since the car was te same since the upgrades put in Barcelona , all this months probably the two months they have been working on these upgrades will take them from having the slowest car of the top 4 teams to their level or just a bit in front of them. Go Alonso!!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st September 2012, 11:39
Going to be keeping an eye on the Marussias in qualifying to see if they really are that close to Caterham now.
BasCB (@bascb)
1st September 2012, 12:07
Would be nice if they did, that would bring a bit more excitement and tension into Q1
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
1st September 2012, 12:19
@keithcollantine That would be one hell of a step up and an exciting one at that, especially without KERS.
Tete
1st September 2012, 11:41
Sorry for the typos , the iPhone sometime put another words that the one you intended when you make a mistake
BBQ2
1st September 2012, 11:42
Wow! JB is Half a second faster than his team mate!! Am I seeing a possible WCC for McLaren this season?….. Still hopping.
Todfod (@todfod)
1st September 2012, 12:17
JB is always strong when it doesn’t matter. He has been fastest in FP3 twice this year, but has off his teammate’s pace when it actually counts.
Wouldn’t get your hopes up on JB if I were you
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
1st September 2012, 12:18
Strange seeing such close times during an FP session, the top 10 covered by 1s. It’s like qualifying. Sauber are a pleasant surprise up there.
John H (@john-h)
1st September 2012, 12:23
Ferrari clearly have the slowest car on the grid again, well according to Fernando ;)
infy (@infy)
1st September 2012, 12:27
We will see in Qualy.
Master firelee (@master-firelee)
1st September 2012, 13:07
Damn I forgot to enter my predictions! arghh!