Rosberg tops second practice

Eurosport - Sat, 25 Apr 12:53:00 2009

Germany's Nico Rosberg, who has yet to transform his practice pace into anything higher than sixth place in a race this season, put Williams on top of the timesheets at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

FORMULA 1 Nico Rosberg Williams - 0

Rosberg, son of 1982 champion Keke, lapped the Sakhir circuit in a time of one minute 33.339 seconds. The German has now been quickest in seven of the 11 practice sessions this year.

"You can only compare your performance to other race weekends, so relatively I think we are looking okay," said Rosberg. "The team brought some new parts to Bahrain and they seem to be working well.

"I am really convinced that we will be able to do something positive at this race and to get the points that the car is worth."

Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso was second fastest in the afternoon.

Current champion Lewis Hamilton had earlier shrugged off the troubles surrounding his McLaren team to clock the quickest time in the morning.

The Briton, whose team risk heavy sanctions at a hearing in Paris next week after a storm over lying to stewards at the Australian season-opener, lapped in 1:33.647.

Only Rosberg, Alonso and Toyota's Jarno Trulli went faster in the afternoon.

"We don't know what fuel loads everyone is on but we are definitely improving," said Hamilton. "But for sure there are some other guys that are a bit faster than us still."

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, winner of the last race in China, was fourth fastest in the second session ahead of Australian team-mate Mark Webber and Brawn GP's championship leader Jenson Button.

Ferrari, who have yet to score a point this year, had Brazilian Felipe Massa 16th and 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen 18th in the afternoon.

BMW-Sauber had filled second and third place on a hot and overcast morning with Germany's Nick Heidfeld ahead of Poland's Robert Kubica.

The top three cars in that session were all equipped with the new KERS energy recovery system, that offers drivers an extra boost of power at the push of a button, at a circuit where it is expected to be a real advantage.

Button, who won the first two races of the season and finished third in China, is favourite to return to the top of the podium with the Brawn likely to be more competitive in the hot conditions.

"The pace looks good from our initial evaluations and I am sure it will be a closely fought battle in qualifying," he said.

Force India, who have yet to score a point since their debut at the start of last season, showed a notable improvement with a new rear diffuser and floor helping Germany's Adrian Sutil end the afternoon seventh fastest.

"I think it is the best position I have been in ever on a Friday," he said.

Reuters

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    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Sat 25 Apr 11:14AM

  2. let Rossborg head every practice session

    then ­ finish outside top 10 in race ..!

    From startoratora, on Sat 25 Apr 10:32AM

  3. The team claims Nico's; German made ( Jerry built?)­ hemet/visor was misting up. Didn't Nico complain­ about poor vision in Melbourne too?
    Have heard no­ exuses for Trulli's abysmal race!

    From Walking quiet, on Sat 25 Apr 7:17AM

  4. hopefully this week Williams won't make the same­ mistakes again like they did in Malaysia and China,,­ c'mon Rosberg !!!

    From Renan, on Sat 25 Apr 7:05AM

  5. clispyduck: - Would you REALLY believe anything that­ Briatore said?
    Renault's diffuser was rejected­ long before the 09 regs were implemented, thereby­ irrelevant.
    If you want a good laugh and find out why­ Renault requested the clarification - read the­ transcript from the FIA diffuser hearings! Ferrari­ admitted they were running an illegal floor for 2­ seasons, probably care of Ross Brawn! Ha Ha

    From Walking quiet, on Sat 25 Apr 4:55AM

  6. hello f1 groupies, it marnio here fronm peru.
    this­ story is the so boring....that ....­ feel..............................mys......sleep­ drifting ......off­ t....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz­ zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz­ zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

    From marnio from peru, on Sat 25 Apr 1:27AM

  7. wait 4 hamilton, he's coming......

    From Mario, on Sat 25 Apr 12:04AM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Anybody want a ice tea!Go brawngp Go.Does the­ Rosberg's car front wing ligal?

    From couch p, on Fri 24 Apr 10:32PM

  9. will these pi**l*cks who are using this site like­ children or for advertising their rubbish please move­ somewhere more appropiate...henry street perhaps.

    From Ray C, on Fri 24 Apr 10:16PM

  10. Rosberg to flop when it matters.

    From wizzo, on Fri 24 Apr 10:04PM

  11. ROSBERG CAN ENJOY EVERY PRACTICE GOING

    THEN FINISH­ 12th in a race to make way for genuine winners

    From pam_wallis60, on Fri 24 Apr 8:39PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    HOW MANY VIEWERS COULD LOCATE THIS VENUE ON A WORLD­ MAP

    90% HAVE NO HOPE OF CORRECT LOCATION ~~~ PROBABLY­ FIT IN AFRICA DESERT 1

    THIS IS JUST A SHOWOFF FOR­ GULF MILLIONS £$£$£££

    TOO TOO MUCH DREARY BARREN GREY­ CONCRETE & STEEL CAGES ~~ JUST NOT F 1 RACE

    From pam_wallis60, on Fri 24 Apr 8:24PM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    THIS RACE IS LIKE STANDING ON A BARREN GREY CONCRETE­ BRIDGE ON M25 MOTORWAY
    WATCHING TRAFFIC PROCESSION PASS­ BELOW

    WHERE IS A REAL F 1 RACE TRACK

    From pam_wallis60, on Fri 24 Apr 8:19PM

  14. ROSBERG OK IN PRACTICE

    BUT ~~~ HOW ABOUT IN AN­ ACTUAL RACE

    From pam_wallis60, on Fri 24 Apr 8:10PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    oh adrian w .. GUTLESS

    From Francis S, on Fri 24 Apr 7:24PM

  16. roon01 and he was driving a Williams when they were at­ the top of the game

    From grahams, on Fri 24 Apr 7:19PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    glad ya liked tha picture elana . its tha splittin­ image of yer mother ill tell ya. weres yer boobs today

    From Francis S, on Fri 24 Apr 7:13PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    yer right owen. that mrs. of yers is one heffer. ya­ might wanna get her a jenny craig kit fer her birthday

    From Francis S, on Fri 24 Apr 7:10PM

  19. well said 79, i get sick of hearing about 'keke,­ the 1982 world champion'! funny how noone ever­ mentions that he only won one race that year! and only­ managed 5 wins in his entire f1 career.

    From roon01, on Fri 24 Apr 6:46PM

  20. Why is it that everytime there is an article about­ Nico, it mentions his "world champion" father­ Keke? Keke didn't win the championship as much as­ all his competition was either killed (Gilles­ Villeneuve) or seriously injured (Didier Pironi) that­ season, he only had 44 points in the end and just­ scraped past Pironi who missed the last 6 races of a 16­ race season
    Let Nico have his own career he's­ better than his dad

    From grahams, on Fri 24 Apr 5:59PM
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