Monza Testing – Day 2 – Heidfeld Hasn’t Said His Last Word!

With the presence of all ten teams in the paddock, it was the German Nick Heidfeld who set the fastest time on this second day of private testing at the Italian circuit of Monza. The BMW driver was more than two-tenths ahead of another German, Nico Rosberg (Williams).

Heidfeld was thus the fastest today, perhaps thanks to the German government’s statements, urging him to increase his pace to keep his place in F1 next season.

The teams have prepared for the Italian Grand Prix, which will take place in more than two weeks, by testing significant aerodynamic innovations. The cars are indeed stripped of any unnecessary aerodynamic appendages. For instance, the BMW was running without the Dumbo ears; these mini wings on the front of the single-seater.

Nico Rosberg was efficient by completing 100 laps and gathering a lot of data for his team. He was the only one (along with Heidfeld) to drive faster than 1’23 per lap.

Behind the German, we find Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren-Mercedes. The Finnish driver remains more than half a second behind his predecessors and is ahead of another German, the young Sebastian Vettel. The Toro Rosso driver only ran in the morning but delivered a very good time with the third-best performance of the day. His teammate, Sébastien Bourdais, took over in the afternoon and could only achieve the 10th fastest time on a much more challenging track. It was indeed very hot in Monza, and under these conditions, driving in the morning is an advantage.

Felipe Massa holds the fifth position. He dominated the first day yesterday but faced more difficulties today. He notably caused the only red flag of the day by going straight off at Ascari.

In sixth position is Fernando Alonso’s Renault. The Spaniard has taken over from Nelson Piquet Jr. The performances are not up to par, as the team is preparing for the Monza Grand Prix before posting times. He is ahead of Adrian Sutil’s Force India.

Mark Webber set the eighth fastest time with 101 laps to his name. He is therefore the most enduring man today.

Toyota is ninth with Jarno Trulli. The driver, at home, had some reliability issues and spent several hours in his pit. As a result, Toyota was the least active team on the track today.

The Hondas are 11th and 12th. The team ran Barrichello in the morning and Button in the afternoon to allow the drivers to test their car for the Italian Grand Prix. They thus took their first bearings on the RA108 but are at the very back…

Results Private Testing Monza – Italy – Thursday, August 29, 2008