Webber tops Spanish GP practice

May 20, 2011 07:32 pm | Updated 07:32 pm IST - Barcelona

Mark Webber underlined his ambitions to win a second straight Spanish Formula One Grand Prix when he led both practice sessions on Friday.

Lewis Hamilton spoilt a full Red Bull party when he squeezed his McLaren between Webber and world champion Sebastian Vettel in the afternoon.

The Australian Webber clocked 1 minute 22.470 seconds on the 4.655-kilometre Circuit de Catalunya and Hamilton was close behind in 1:22.509 minutes on a sunny day.

Hamilton is the only man to beat Vettel so far this season when he took victory in China ahead of the German who has won all other three races and leads the Briton by 34 points, 93 to 59.

Vettel posted 1:22.826 to come third in the afternoon after second in the opening session. Jenson Button was fourth for McLaren in 1:23.188 and local hero Fernando Alonso followed on 1:23.568 the day after the news that he will stay at Ferrari until 2016.

Red Bull are considered favourites in Spain, but Hamilton showed that the others are ready to close in as all teams brought upgrades to their cars for the fifth season race.

Qualifying is on Saturday and the 66-lap race on Sunday where overtaking is considered difficult and the last 10 races were won from pole. Vettel has monopolised the pole this season and will be seeking a fifth straight top spot on the grid.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.