GP – Free Practice 3: BMW launches the offensive!
The BMW team impressed on Saturday morning in Australia during the third free practice session of the 2008 season. On the Albert Park circuit, the German brand placed its two drivers at the top, with Robert Kubica more than three-tenths ahead of Nick Heidfeld. Fernando Alonso is third in the Renault R28. A good sign […]
The BMW team impressed on Saturday morning in Australia during the third free practice session of the 2008 season. On the Albert Park circuit, the German brand placed its two drivers at the top, with Robert Kubica more than three-tenths ahead of Nick Heidfeld. Fernando Alonso is third in the Renault R28. A good sign before the qualifications.
See the live – Free Practice 3
None of the two top teams is in the top 10 of this third practice session. It was indeed very eventful with many twists and turns.
Sebastian Vettel’s Toro Rosso stayed at the top of the timesheet for a long time before being demoted by a stream of drivers completing qualifying laps. The result is surprising, with 8 different teams in the top 10. A first in 4 years…
At the same time, the Ferraris, which were not specifically aiming for a lap time, are in 11th and 14th place with Massa and Räikkönen, respectively.
McLaren does even worse. Hamilton is only 12th, while Kovalainen takes only the 21st position!
From the first minute of the session opening, several drivers, the least experienced ones, took off. Some mistakes were also noticed, Timo Glock went off at turn 15 just before taking the first position in the provisional standings for Toyota.
Felipe Massa took the best time from him a few minutes later, before the driver with the fastest lap changed names five times in just two minutes. Alonso, Räikkönen, and Rosberg are among them.
10 minutes before the end of the session, most of the drivers switched to soft tires. The pre-qualification was already underway, and the BMWs did the best by taking the positions previously held by Vettel and Rosberg. The latter finally took 4th position.
He leads the two Red Bulls of Webber and Coulthard. Honda shows good progress with Button’s 7th time while Vettel, Fisichella, and Trulli complete the top 10.
Nelson Piquet, despite the good performance of the Renault R28 with Fernando Alonso, is only 15th. Sébastien Bourdais, the only Frenchman in F1, only achieves the 18th best performance. The Toro Rosso driver is struggling to set a clear lap.
2008 Australian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 – Results
