Rosberg’s practice makes perfect again
For the eighth time in 14 sessions over the course of the year, it was Williams’ Nico Rosberg who topped the timesheets.
Come the end of the second 90-minute session at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, the 23-year-old had set the fastest time of the day overall with a lap of one minute 21.588secs.
But Rosberg did not have it all his own way because just minutes prior to the session coming to a close, he was forced to trundle off the track and park his car on the grass due to an apparent electrical problem.
Despite that issue, it proved to be a productive day for Williams as Kazuki Nakajima was second quickest, just 0.152secs adrift of his team-mate.
Williams’ concern this season, though, is they have yet to transfer their practice pace into a decent qualifying performance or race result.
Rosberg has managed just 3.5 points so far, with his best finish a sixth in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, whilst Nakajima has yet to get off the mark.
If they can finally deliver on the promise they present, then they could still come into the championship reckoning.
Behind the Williams’ duo it was Fernando Alonso in his Renault as he gave his fans something to cheer, followed by Rubens Barrichello for Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber.
Championship leader Jenson Button, quickest in first practice with a time that proved to be the third best of the day, was sixth in the second session, narrowly ahead of one of his main title rivals in Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.
As for the big guns, Kimi Raikkonen headed that particular list, but hardly something to be proud of as he was 10th for Ferrari.
Current world champion Lewis Hamilton was down in 13th in a McLaren he rightly predicted would not be competitive on this track, with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen 14th, and Felipe Massa a place further back in his Ferrari.
Meanwhile Felipe Massa is fervently hoping Ferrari will not be standing in the last-chance saloon tomorrow.
There are fears within the team that if the range of updates for their cars fail to deliver the desired performance at the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari may have to write off their season.
Although Kimi Raikkonen’s sixth-placed finish in the last race in Bahrain ended the team’s points drought, last year’s championship challenger Massa has yet to get off the mark.
With the Brazilian still stuck on zero after four grands prix, it now represents his worst start to a season after seven years in the sport.
After ending yesterday’s s two practice sessions with a lowly 14th-best time of the day overall, Massa said: “I hope we have a chance and that it won’t be the last.
“I hope we can improve the situation, to be competitive, but how competitive I don’t know.
“We are working for this big improvement, but the others are not sleeping. They are working hard as well.
Massa admits the last few weeks at the Ferrari factory in Maranello have been “very tough” on everyone as they seek answers to a number of problems.
The car on show this weekend incorporates a new aero package, with the bodywork on Raikkonen’s alone much lighter.
“People have worked day and night to get the car and bring all the modifications for this race,” confirmed Massa.
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