Zoom Vettel and Red Bull strong at Silverstone

As the paddock and media await the latest developments in the ongoing situation between the teams and the governing body, Sebastian Vettel was getting on with the job in hand as the German racer again set the practice pace for the Red Bull Renault team.

Vettel was not quite able to match his morning best of 1:19.400 this afternoon, lapping 0.056s slower in the revised RB5 challenger around the 5.141km Silverstone circuit while team-mate Mark Webber did make a slight gain on the way to the second fastest time once again.

With Red Bull showing well once again, Webber ended the 90 minute session watching the action as his RB5 let him down just ahead of the chequered flag. Exiting the all-important Chapel turn onto the Hanger Straight, Webber ran a little wide and hit the kerbing on the outside of the circuit. The Australian immediately backed off as the car faltered and it is possible that the Renault V8 suffered terminal damage as was the case in practice in Turkey in very similar circumstances for Vettel.

While it was of little surprise to see the Red Bull team at the top of the timesheets, there were a few surprises in the top ten.

Adrian Sutil was an impressive third fastest in his Force India Mercedes. The Silverstone-based team have a raft of aerodynamic updates to the VJM02 package this weekend including the front wings, floor and various other components. Sutil was six-tenths off the ultimate as he and the team undoubtedly simulated a qualifying run.

Kazuki Nakajima led the Williams Toyota challenge with the fourth fastest time with usual Friday pace-setter Nico Rosberg ninth fastest. Fernando Alonso pushed very hard again in the leading Renault to record the fifth fastest time just a fraction slower than Nakajima.

It was a fairly normal Friday for the Brawn Mercedes team. We have got used to see both championship leader Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello off the pace on the opening day of the Grand Prix weekend and today was no exception with Barrichello sixth and Button 14th. Clearly the team has yet to find the sweet spot in terms of setup, but as underlines in Turkey, overnight changes can transform the BGP 001 challenger.

Running without KERS today, Lewis Hamilton managed a solid seventh position in his McLaren Mercedes with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen persevering with the energy recovery system in 12th. Should McLaren opt not to run KERS over the remainder of the weekend, only Ferrari will line up on the grid with the technology on Sunday. Given the astronomical costs of development, the technology has so far been a massive waste of time on money for the teams.

The Toyota duo of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock were in the upper and lower mid-field for Toyota with the eighth and 13th best times at a circuit which should suit the TF109 challenger while Nico Rosberg and Nelson Piquet rounded out the top ten in the second Williams and Renault.

Robert Kubica missed much of the first half of the session as his BMW Sauber suffered an engine problem. After a rapid change from the team the Pole was back in the action and ended the day 11th fastest, four places and just over a tenth clear of team-mate Nick Heidfeld.

Sebastien Bourdais continued to show well in his Toro Rosso Ferrari with the 16th fastest time ahead of both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. Clearly the F60 challenger is not a race winner, but it is still a surprise to see the Ferrari duo some 1.5 seconds off the ultimate pace. Giancarlo Fisichella and Sebastien Buemi brought up the rear of the timesheets for Force India and Toro Rosso.

It is certainly advantage Red Bull for the time being, but we have yet to see what pace the all-conquering Brawn Mercedes team really have at Silverstone.

Earl ALEXANDER
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