The 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix

[Ed]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the seventeenth and final round of the 2007 season taking place at Interlagos between the 19th and 21st of October.

The event timetable for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 10:00 local time - 12:00 GMT
2nd Practice 14:00 local time - 16:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 11:00 local time - 13:00 GMT
Qualifying 14:00 local time - 16:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 14:00 local time - 16:00 GMT

[Ed]

For this race we wll be covering the qualifying and the race. Apologies for not being able to cover the practice sessions.

[mlittle]

With one of the most exciting championships in F1 coming right down to the wire, it was the redcoats of the Scuderia who drew first blood on a wet, but drying Interlagos circuit, setting the 2 fastest times of the session w/a 1:19.580 for Kimi Raikkonen and a 1:20.062 for teammate Felipe Massa...........here are the times from Interlagos and the first practice session:

1st} Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari...........................1:19.580 sec(9)
2nd} Felipe Massa, Ferrari..............................1:20.062 sec(10)
3rd} Heikki Kovalainen, Renault......................1:20.829 sec(19)
4th} Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota.................1:21.064 sec(14)
5th} Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes...........1:21.121 sec(10)
6th} Ralf Schumacher, Toyota.........................1:21.243 sec(22)
7th} Sebastien Vettel, Toro Rosso-Ferrari.........1:21.598 sec(22)
8th} Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault.................1:22.104 sec(12)
9th} Jarno Trulli, Toyota..................................1:22.104 sec(26)
10th} Vitantonio Liuzzi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari........1:22.250 sec(17)
11th} Rubens Barrichello, Honda......................1:22.434 sec(23)
12th} Jenson Button, Honda.............................1:22.477 sec(22)
13th} David Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault...........1:22.667 sec(16)
14th} Takuma Sato, Super Aguri......................1:22.929 sec(19)
15th} Adrian Sutil, Spyker-Ferrari.....................1:23.248 sec(30)
16th} Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota............1:23.261 sec(26)
17th} Anthony Davidson, Super Aguri................1:23.551 sec(20)
18th} Sakon Yamamoto, Spyker-Ferrari.............1:24.366 sec(25)
--four drivers failed to post a flying lap during the session........
Nick Heidfeld, BMW-Sauber
Robert Kubica, BMW-Sauber
Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Mercedes
Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault
(Heidfeld, Kubica and Alonso did one installation lap during the session while Fisichella did 2 installation laps)

[mlittle]

....maybe its' just a wet/dry thing at Interlagos, who knows; the first session was a wet session, the second a dry one........at this interval, could we see for the third consecutive time, a wet race?

While it was the boys in red for the Scuderia who struck first in session #1, it was the Silver Arrows of McLaren who answered back strong in the second session as both McLarens' paced the field in the afternoon session.....

1st} Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes.....................1:12.767 sec(27)
2nd} Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Mercedes..................1:12.889 sec[28]
3rd} Felipe Massa, Scuderia Ferrari............................1:13.075 sec(30)
4th} Kimi Raikkonen, Scuderia Ferrari........................1:13.112 sec(30)
5th} Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault...............................1:13.549 sec(22)
6th} Robert Kubica, BMW-Sauber...............................1:13.587 sec(34)
7th} Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota............................1:13.655 sec(33)
8th} Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota.......................1:13.664 sec[38]
9th} David Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault.......................1:13.706 sec(30)
10th} Nick Heidfeld, BMW-Sauber...............................1:13.785 sec(44)
11th} Ralf Schumacher, Toyota..................................1:13.829 sec(29)
12th} Heikki Kovalainen, Renault................................1:13.879 sec[28]
13th} Rubens Barrichello, Honda................................1:13.892 sec(45)
14th} Jenson Button, Honda.......................................1:14.095 sec(44)
15th} Vitantonio Liuzzi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari..................1:14.152 sec(33)
16th} Jarno Trulli, Toyota..........................................1:14.179 sec(25)
17th} Sebastien Vettel, Toro Rosso-Ferrari..................1:14.409 sec(37)
18th} Takuma Sato, Super Aguri................................1:14.431 sec(27)
19th} Anthony Davidson, Super Aguri.........................1:14.477 sec(31)
20th} Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault..........................1:14.543 sec(35)
21st} Adrian Sutil, Spyker-Ferrari...............................1:15.095 sec(35)
22nd} Sakon Yamamoto, Spyker-Ferrari.....................1:15.715 sec(32)

[Ed]

Thanks mlittle for updating the times. Much appreciated

[The Conduit]

Button, Sato and Hamilton have been fined, rather than having grid penalties imposed, for using two sets of wets in practice.
They have also been ordered to surrender one set each, so as to not have the advantage of "scrubbed wets" should it be a wet race.
Merde!..........what is the FIA doing????

[mlittle]

Button, Sato and Hamilton have been fined, rather than having grid penalties imposed, for using two sets of wets in practice.
They have also been ordered to surrender one set each, so as to not have the advantage of "scrubbed wets" should it be a wet race.
Merde!..........what is the FIA doing????

There's a rule in the Sporting Regs(25.3 IIRC) that essentially says teams can use only one set of wet-weather tires during a practice session; I think what happened w/all 3 of those teams is they used one set and then for some reason put a second set on, not realizing what the rule.......Hamilton's the luckiest of the three; the marshals coulda' given all three of them a 5-spot grid penalty for the race........

[Ed]

Qualifying underway and Massa is fastest ahead of Raikkonen and Hamilton. Alonso is down in 8th!

[Ed]

Everyone except the top 3 go back out with under 2 minutes remaining

[Ed]

Air temperature is 30 degrees while track temperature is 60 degrees!!

[Ed]

Alonso moves into second

[Ed]

Knocked out: Kovalainen, Sato, Nakajima, Davidson, Sutil and Yamamoto

[Ed]

2nd Qualifying session underway and the two Toyotas are the first out

[Ed]

Nearly everyone follows with only the 2 BMWs still in the garage

[Ed]

The Red Bulls are looking good this weekend and look like the best of the rest at this stage!