GP – Free Practice 3: Heidfeld, the New Torero

Nick Heidfeld in the BMW-Sauber was the fastest during the last free practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The German secured the first position when he opted for softer tires.

David Coulthard took second place for Red Bull, ahead of the Renault of Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari and McLaren appear to have taken the path of a different strategy where the fuel load carried in this session is the reason for the poor performances of the four drivers. Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen are only 9th and 13th for Ferrari, while Hamilton and Kovalainen are ranked 11th and 15th respectively for McLaren.

Räikkönen was the first to complete a flying lap with a time of 1:22.804, but within the following two minutes, Kovalainen and then Kubica overtook the reigning world champion.

Alonso was the 4th driver to secure the fastest time to the delight of his fans who came in droves to support him for this home Grand Prix. Although his lap time of 1’22”634 was quickly beaten by Rubens Barrichello for Honda, the Spaniard then raised the level to set a time of 1’22”271.

Coulthard also made headlines as, 20 minutes before the end of the session, the Scot first beat the Iberian with a time of 1’22”068 and then continued to improve with a time of 1’21”580.

The Red Bull driver stayed on top for a good while by improving his own time (1’21”465) with Medium tires but it wasn’t enough to hold off Heidfeld.

Alonso took 3rd place in the very last moments of the session. Kubica and Jarno Trulli’s Toyota completed the Top 5.

Sébastien Bourdais is one of the surprises of these third free practice sessions as he is 6th in his modest Toro Rosso ahead of Alonso’s teammate, Nelson Piquet, and Honda driver, Jenson Button.

Behind, Massa and Glock take the last two places to round off a somewhat atypical Top 10.

Mark Webber failed to set a time in the second Red Bull. The Australian encountered a technical problem that forced him to return to the pits before he could complete his first timed lap.

As was the case yesterday, Turn 10 was the scene of the main incidents in this last session with harmless spins for Barrichello and Sutil in the VMJ01.

Results of Free Practice 3 – 2008 Spanish GP