Published: June 16, 2007 12:17 am            

F1 cream rises to the top in Friday practice

Hamilton quick learner, but Alonso quickest driver

INDIANAPOLIS — The cream rose to the top during Friday’s practice for the U.S. Grand Prix.

McLaren-Mercedes, Ferrari and BMW Sauber — the top three teams in Formula One — dominated the top spots in the morning and afternoon practice sessions at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso had the best time in both sessions. His best lap was a 1 minute, 11.925 second time turned in during the morning practice. Alonso’s best time in the afternoon heat was a 1:12.156.

It’s a good sign for Alonso, who has been snake-bit at Indianapolis. His best career finish in the USGP is fifth.

“This track has never been kind to me, but I really want to do well,” Alonso said. “We looked at tire evaluation and general set-up work. So far things are looking good for the team.”

Indeed. Alonso’s teammate — Lewis Hamilton — was second in the afternoon session and third in the morning, no mean feat considering it was the first time Hamilton drove at Indianapolis.

“The really tricky bit is the mid-section as it’s very tight and twisty,” Hamilton said. “We have a pretty good idea of where we’re going and it looks like we should be competitive.”

Some combination of Alonso and Hamilton; Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen; and BMW’s Nick Heidfeld and replacement driver Sebastian Vettel secured the top five spots in both sessions.

Heidfeld was second-best in the morning session, but was not happy with his BMW.

“We looked pretty good on the results sheet, but that was only on sheet I’m afraid,” the German driver said. “I was unhappy with the balance of the car and we haven’t managed to get the tires to work properly. The car is sliding too much.”

The results were encouraging for Ferrari. When there were two tire manufacturers in the series, Ferrari had an advantage with its Bridgestone tires, which responded better to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway surface. Now all teams are on Bridgestone’s, but Ferrari’s quickness at IMS has not diminished. Both Massa and Raikkonen were within a few hundreths of a second off of the McLaren’s

“We definitely have more grip and we are getting the tires to work better. I think we can fight for the top places,” Massa said.

Williams driver Nico Rosberg (morning) and Red Bull’s David Coulthard (afternoon) were the best of the rest in each session, but both were significantly off the times of the top three teams.

There were few surprises through the rest of the field. American Scott Speed struggled in both sessions, finishing 15th in the morning and 18th in the afternoon in his Toro Rosso.

I I I

n Qualfying format — For the second year in a row, F1 will use a knock-out qualifying format during today’s session.

All cars are on track for the first 15-minute session after which the slowest six cars are eliminated. Six more cars are eliminated in a second 15-minute session, leaving 10 cars for a final 15-minute shootout to determine the pole position. Times for all cars are erased for each session.

Refueling is not allowed in the final session. The car is fueled for the race at the level it was at the end of qualifying, encouraging cars to remain on-track. Cars that are eliminated in the first two qualifying sessions can refuel as they wish on race day.

n Bad day for Team Apex — Terre Haute-based Team Apex reached an emotional high at Indianapolis when it won last season in the Formula BMW series, but after Friday qualifying for the first of two Formula BMW series races, Team Apex was low.

Rookie Robert Thorne qualified 11th and rookie Lindsey Adams qualified 18th (last) for today’s race as Team Apex’s strategy went by the wayside during the 30-minute qualifying session. Namely its drafting strategy.

“This track is different because drafting comes into play, so if you don’t strategize and work with a couple people to get a few good laps in, it’s going to be difficult,” Team Apex racing director David Price said. “We were in top three early and then brought the car in to make some changes to the handling. The changes did have an effect, and unfortunately, other teams were getting quicker. Our expectations were higher.”

The first of two Formula BMW races is today. The second is Sunday morning.

n Crowds — With no Michael Schumacher, no Juan Pablo Montoya and the future of the U.S. Grand Prix itself in doubt, attendance was an open question going into the weekend.

During Friday’s afternoon practice, it appeared that crowds were down slightly in the paddock, where Montoya’s vociferous Colombian contingent usually gathered, as well as many Schumacher-mad Ferrari fans.

However, the grandstands in the interior of the track were standing room only. Fans were lined two-deep on the mounds overlooking the turns on the south side of the track.



Today’s Schedule

10 a.m. — Formula One practice

11:25 a.m. — Formula BMW race (first race)

1 p.m. — Formula One qualifying

2:30 p.m. — IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge

3:45 p.m. — Indy Pro Series Liberty Challenge (first race)

        

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