Formula 1
Belgian GP: Bridgestone Friday practice report
Bridgestone Motorsport's Friday Update Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) set the marker on the opening day of running for the ING Belgian Grand Prix by using Bridgestone's medium compound Potenza tyre to set Friday's fastest lap time at the ...
Published: Sep 7, 2008, 9:24 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Bridgestone Motorsport's Friday Update
Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) set the marker on the opening day of running for the ING Belgian Grand Prix by using Bridgestone's medium compound Potenza tyre to set Friday's fastest lap time at the 7km Spa Francorchamps race track for the thirteenth round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Massa set his time - a 1min 47.284secs - in the morning 90 minute practice session. He was over three tenths faster than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) went third fastest.
The morning session was dry, apart from a few spots of rain, whilst the afternoon session saw more rain, although insufficient for teams to make use of Bridgestone's wet or extreme wet tyres. The more trying conditions in the afternoon meant that fewer laps were completed and the lap times were slower. Fernando Alonso (ING Renault F1 Team) set the fastest time, a 1min 48.454secs, using the hard compound in the final minutes of a session which was stopped briefly whilst a car was removed from the track. Massa was second fastest in this session, whilst Heikki Kovalainen (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) was third quickest.
This was the first time that teams have used the hard compound Bridgestone Potenza F1 tyre here as the medium and soft compounds were used at Spa last season. Today's fastest lap time was over six tenths slower than the best Friday time set last year, a 1min 46.654secs, set by Fernando Alonso (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes).
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development, said:
"Today was difficult for teams trying to accumulate data as the weather was variable and track conditions were not good for gaining information. The morning session was dry, and the best lap time was faster than that set here in last year's first session. In the afternoon we saw some rain on the circuit and times did not improve. Despite the cool conditions we are happy with the warm-up of both compounds, including the hard compound which we are using here for the first time. Tomorrow it will be interesting to see what the weather does, but teams should be used to the challenge of Spa as the weather is often like this here."
Stats of the Day
Total amount of laps completed by all drivers: 881 laps
Average number of laps per driver: 44 laps
Most laps by a driver: 52 - Vettel
Fastest lap: 1min 47.284secs - Massa(FP1)
Compounds used: Hard / Medium
-credit: bridgestone
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Alonso, Massa out front in Belgian GP practice
Next article Belgian GP: Practice 3 times
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Felipe Massa
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Formula 1
Formula 1
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
Formula 1
Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
More from
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc reacts to Ferrari fear: 'We know what line not to cross'
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Charles Leclerc reacts to Ferrari fear: 'We know what line not to cross'
Why Ferrari failed to deliver on its hype in F1's United States GP qualifying
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Why Ferrari failed to deliver on its hype in F1's United States GP qualifying
Latest news
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Winners and losers from a frantic NASCAR Cup race at Talladega
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
2 h
Winners and losers from a frantic NASCAR Cup race at Talladega
Herta endorses IndyCar’s international return with Barcelona while marveling at Palou’s dominance
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 3 h
Herta endorses IndyCar’s international return with Barcelona while marveling at Palou’s dominance
Why Chase Elliott has removed his name from NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Ballot
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
Why Chase Elliott has removed his name from NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Ballot
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe