Friday, September 11, 2009

Live - Italian GP practice

LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times BST)

606: DEBATE
Your thoughts on the action

To get involved text us on 81111 with FORMULA 1 before your message. (Not all contributions can be used; UK mobiles only; network rates apply)

By Chris Whyatt

BBC pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie on Twitter: "Saw Fisi coming back into paddock - body language not great! Is Ferrari dream drive becoming nightmare! Sutil and Force India fastest!"

1100: But Sutil keeps top spot. Well done to him. Button second, then Heidfeld, Barrichello, Hamilton, Kovalainen... Not much running for Red Bull as Webber and Vettel, 17th and 18th, don't clock as many laps as the rest (bar Fisichellla and Alguersuari). The young German driver is now on his eighth - and last - engine of the season.

1058: Kovalainen flying... it could be really close this weekend. The Finn goes second. he's BBC F1 pundit Anthony Davidson's top for pole. Button fastest now though. No, Sutil steals it! Not done yet...

Fangdango on 606: "Terrific race in store and the first corner from the start could decide the outcome of the championship. Jenson needs to avoid what happened to Lewis in the last race or his hopes will be shattered this season. Lewis needs to qualify on the first two rows at least to use his Kers to outdrag the others down to turn 1 and keep clear for turn 2. Go Lewis Go!"

1054: Getting a decent picture of race pace now. Force India - for whom Liuzzi is doing a great job - are fast. As are the McLarens. Button up to third now. Tall trees cast sultry shadows over track. Six minutes to go now then we cast our minds towards qualifying...

BBC One F1 presenter Jake Humphrey on Twitter: "Off to the paddock to get mic'd up...will try and send a couple of snaps throughout the show...enjoy!"

1047: Having seen an FIA official inspecting events in the Toro Rosso garage, Ted Kravitz speculates that Alguersuari could be hit with five-grid place penalty for having his gearbox changed. This is TBC. Scrabbling over gravel, Grosjean goes for a little detour off the track. Sutil now fastest as he pushes Hamilton into second. The German just tells his team radio: "I wouldn't change anything on the car."

1042: Jaime Alguersuari is twiddling his thumbs in the garage - there's a problem with his Toro Rosso, which is now up on the stands being surgically inspected by his mechanics. All other cars are out. Championship leader of the pack Button now fifth, Webber down in 16th with Vettel 18th.

BBC F1 pundit Anthony Davidson: "Monza is the lowest-downforce circuit of the year by quite a distance. The car reacts here quite differently to any other circuit. Downforce is basically the pressure exerted on the wheels of the car on the ground, it is like an aeroplane but in reverse - an aeroplane gains lift the faster it goes whereas a car gains downforce. So it's an inverted plane.

"But downforce and drag resistance go hand-in-hand. The more downforce you have the more drag you have. Because Monza has such long straights which make up such a large proportion of the lap, you need to run less downforce. That is why the cars are visibly different here they have skinnier wings and fewer elements on the front and rear wings. They look a lot less deep and substantial than at other circuits.

"In simple terms, the car moves around a lot more on a low-downforce track. It is a bit more like driving your road car in the snow - it is much more challenging. You never feel confident that the car has the grip that is there for you around most circuits."

BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz: "That's a massive setback for Giancarlo Fisichella. Whereas before that crash he would've expected to get into Q2 quite easily, now getting through Q1 is very much in the balance because he won't have had any opportunity to go through his qualifying runs. Not at all what he would've hoped for."

1035: That seems bound to affect Fisichella's chances in qualifying. He has just not had enough time in the car. Gone to the medical centre now to get the OK from docs. Did nerves get the better of him? Let me know what you think. Hamilton still quickest, then Glock, Alonso, Kovalainen, Sutil, Grosjean...

Joe in Monmouthshire on 81111 "How much harder will it be next year, especially under braking, carrying 53 laps of fuel with low downforce?"

1028: Fisichella has gone off at Parabolica! That's not good. It's a right-front locking situation, braking too late, as he tries to find the limit of a car he's unfamiliar with. The front-left wheel almost snaps off as he slams into the tyre wall. Drama. The Italian looks sheepish.

1025: Hamilton fastest now. The world champion, gaining between two or three tenths of a second by slipstreaming the car in front, absolutely flying. And he's got that Kers power boost button. Many tipping him for a second win of 2009 this weekend.

BBC F1 pundit Anthony Davidson: "You'll often see drivers and cars getting their best times three or four laps into a stint at Monza, when the tyres are yet to grain but when the temperature in them is near optimum. That could make things interesting come qualifying later."

1020: Liuzzi fastest now. Don't forget, he is replacing Fisichella - who grabbed Force India's first-ever F1 podium with second place in Belgium at the last race. Many believe that car now truly has some legs, though they may be more than Asafa Powell than Usain Bolt. And Adrian Sutil went quickest yesterday.

Hammydigrassi on 606: "What a weekend we have in store. Force India looking good again. McLaren back up there, Hoping Heikki and Lewis can do the business and either one of them win this weekend. Let's hope Grosjean can give Renault something to smile about this weekend and score some points, he looked a cool dude in practice yesterday. I think Button, Webber, Vettel and Barrichello could struggle to get near the front this weekend. I also expect one of them to be knocked out of third quali."

1012: Clean-shaven Brawn driver Rubens Barrichello looks typically happy as he waits to go out. Fisichella, on the team radio, is raving about the Ferrari car. He posts the first time: one minute 28.402 seconds. Lovely morning in Italy.

1006: No times posted yet. That Rambo chap was in fact Jean Alesi, who is well known within F1 to be a top man and true gent. BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz says he nearly put the Eastenders theme tune on a the end of a TV report he did about the Renault-Piquet affair, such is its soap opera qualities. So who's Dirty Den then?

John from Maidstone in Kent on 81111: "Wouldn't it sum up the season if Fisi qualifies last in a Ferrari the race after putting a Force India on pole?!"

1000: The hour-long session is under way.. Force India's new boy Tonio Liuzzi is first out on the asphalt. Sly Stallone look-a-like in the Ferrari garage.

0957: Huge thunderstorms in northern Italy over Monza. Last night. Stunning blue skies this morning though, and it's 31 degrees track temp. Great chat F1 commentator David Croft on 5 Live Sports Extra. "Who can ride the kerbs here at Monza, who can be aggressive on these 15cm-high beasts?" he sings. "You can't go anywhere near those big, bulbous red things," retorts pundit Anthony Davidson sat in the commentary box next to him.

ButtonNumber22 on 606: "My bet is for a Lewis-Rubens front row with Kimi, Jenson, Vettel and Heikki not far back!"

BBC Sport's Sarah Holt in Monza: "Hello again. Team BBC arrived at the track super early this morning to avoid the log-jam of Italian traffic and roadworks. We were here so early that Jake even had time to polish his shoes while Eddie had a good sit down with a cup of tea on the sofa. It is another bright morning in northern Italy but it does feel noticeably cooler than the last two days. The forecast for qualifying is, at this stage, uncertain. Some sources say it'll be cloudy while others predict rain will begin to fall at exactly 2pm local time (1300 BST). Oh perfect."

0942: Now that's out of the way, let's concentrate on some racing. Third and final practice for the Italian Grand Prix starts at 1000 BST - so not long now - before the always pulse-quickening qualifying sessions kick off at 1300 BST. In gorgeous early autumn sunshine, Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil ran well for McLaren and Force India yesterday. Who's gonna do the biz today? Text me on 81111 or get involved in 606 above.

0935: In case you spent yesterday near the peak of Everest, though you can still probably get a mobile phone or WAP reception up there, the top line is that Renault are to launch legal action against Nelson Piquet Jr and his dad - Nelson Piquet Sr - over the Singapore 2008 race-fixing allegations. Claim and counter-claims are now swirling around like cheap cars in a violent hurricane... this is the full story.

0930: Once again, the high-speed Formula 1 action on the track (yes, Luca Badoer is no longer driving for Ferrari) is being viciously overshadowed by events off it. You know what I'm talking about. Don't you? Welcome to a world of controversy. Oh, and Monza.


ะพ 11:28 PM

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