Mark Webber quickest in Belgian GP afternoon practice

Date: 26th August 2011 at 3:24 pm | Filed under: Ferrari,Formula 1 News,McLaren,Red Bull Racing | Author: Pete South | Tags: Belgian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber | image © Action Images

Red Bull’s Mark Webber led the way in the second qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix this afternoon.

The session was once more dogged by spells of rain, but the Australian still managed a time of 1.50.321 to lead the way from Fernando Alonso and the two McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso had an indifferent morning session but put in a solid effort to record the second fastest time of the afternoon with a 1.50.461, just 0.140 behind Webber.

Button was almost half a second adrift of Webber with a 1.50.770, with Hamilton putting in a 1.50.838.

During a dry spell in the session the times began to drop quickly with drivers finding grip on the drying surface, before the rain returned once more to all but put a halt to the session.

“With Vettel staying away from the soft tyres and recording a fast time on the medium compound, there is every chance he may grab pole once more.”

With similar conditions expected for the race most teams got a decent run out on the intermediate tyres and then the slicks before the rain returned.

Sebastian Vettel had looked in ominous form as he set the quickest time on the medium tyre and led the way from Hamilton mid-way through the session with Hamilton behind him, but the German did not go out on the softer tyre towards the end of the session and ended with the 10^th fastest time.

With the high speed nature of the track which sees drivers on the throttle for 80% of the race, McLaren will hope their powerful DRS system will put them near the front during qualifying, while Ferrari once more look strong.

Red Bull’s true pace is more of a mystery on a track which isn’t believed to play to their strengths, but with Vettel staying away from the soft tyres and recording a fast time on the medium compound, there is every chance he may grab pole once more.

Afternoon Practice Session Results:

Pos.	Car	Driver	Car	Best lap	Gap	Laps
1	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1’50.321		22
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1’50.461	0.140	19
3	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1’50.770	0.449	9
4	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1’50.838	0.517	9
5	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1’51.218	0.897	14
6	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1’51.242	0.921	23
7	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1’51.655	1.334	21
8	14	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1’51.725	1.404	18
9	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1’51.751	1.430	9
10	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1’51.790	1.469	13
11	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1’51.922	1.601	23
12	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Cosworth	1’52.750	2.429	20
13	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1’52.780	2.459	26
14	19	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’52.911	2.590	25
15	18	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’53.009	2.688	25
16	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1’53.156	2.835	17
17	9	Bruno Senna	Renault	1’53.835	3.514	21
18	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	1’55.051	4.730	20
19	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	1’55.494	5.173	23
20	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	1’56.202	5.881	15
21	25	Jerome D’Ambrosio	Virgin-Cosworth	1’56.816	6.495	21
22	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT-Cosworth	1’57.450	7.129	19
23	22	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT-Cosworth	1’57.612	7.291	24
24	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	2’02.234	11.913	12

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