2011 Belgian Grand Prix (Rd 12, Free Practice 2, Aug 26th, TV Notes)

Spa-Francorchamps © Creative Commons / Will Pittenger

Mark Webber topped the second free practice session at Spa-Francorchamps in the build-up to the Belgian Grand Prix.

In a session where the Australian completed 22 laps, Webber notched up a best lap of 1:50.321 on the soft Pirelli tyres, before a steady fall of rain silenced proceedings.

Webber came away from the practice with 1.469 second advantage over Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, although the reigning Champion’s best came via the slowing, longer-lasting medium compound tyre.

Fernando Alonso came close to placing his Ferrari at the top of the pile, with a time just 0.14 of-a-second shy of the Red Bull.
The Spaniard managed 18 laps over the changeable session, allowing himself to be the first to run on slicks in the early running.

The McLaren’s of Jenson Button (3rd) and Lewis Hamilton (4th) were next up, both of whom only ran nine laps apiece as they struggled to catch dry running.

Williams did not have the best of practices, with Rubens Barrichello found his FW33 shy of a working KERS unit. It did not stop the veteran from being only two-tenths shy of teammate Pastor Maldonado, following a 17 lap stint.

Vitaly Petrov had another tough session in his Renault. The Russian suffered from a pulling steering wheel, limiting him to only 12 laps in the early part of the session.
Petrov rounded out the timesheets – his best lap set at the session beginning in damp conditions – while new teammate Bruno Senna registered the 17th best time, before the rain fell.

Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps
 1.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m50.321s            22
 2.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m50.461s  + 0.140s  18
 3.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m50.770s  + 0.449s  9
 4.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m50.838s  + 0.517s  9
 5.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m51.218s  + 0.897s  14
 6.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m51.242s  + 0.921s  22
 7.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m51.655s  + 1.334s  20
 8.  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India-Mercedes  1m51.725s  + 1.404s  17
 9.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m51.751s  + 1.430s  8
10.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m51.790s  + 1.469s  13
11.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m51.922s  + 1.601s  22
12.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth     1m52.750s  + 2.429s  20
13.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m52.780s  + 2.459s  25
14.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m52.911s  + 2.59 s  24
15.  Sébastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m53.009s  + 2.688s  24
16.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m53.156s  + 2.835s  17
17.  Bruno Senna         Renault               1m53.835s  + 3.514s  20
18.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Renault         1m55.051s  + 4.730s  20
19.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m55.494s  + 5.173s  22
20.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault         1m56.202s  + 5.881s  15
21.  Jerome D'Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m56.816s  + 6.495s  20
22.  Tonio Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth          1m57.450s  + 7.129s  19
23.  Daniel Ricciardo    HRT-Cosworth          1m57.612s  + 7.291s  24
24.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               2m02.234s  + 11.913s 12

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