Hamilton set the fastest time of the second practice session at the Nurburgring
Lewis Hamilton surprised everyone by setting the quickest time in the second practice session for the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
The reigning World Champion who, unlike his team-mate is running in the latest spec of the McLaren MP4-24, planted himself at the top of the timesheets on his final run of the session ahead of Sebastien Vettel’s Red Bull.
After setting the quickest time in morning practice, Mark Webber looked to be on form again at the beginning of P2 but the Australian fell away as the track rubbered in after a quick rain shower and could only manage the fourth quickest time.
Jenson Button’s name appeared at the top of the times on more than one occasion as well, but, although the Brit struggled to get heat into his Bridgestone tyres, he still ended up in a respectable third place.
But, compared to his Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barichello, Button had a easy time of it, as the Brazilian and his engineers tried desperately hard throughout both of today’s practice sessions to cure a lack of front-end grip - both Brawns suffered with similar problems at the British Grand Prix also. The problems experienced by Barichello are reportedly down to the relatively low ambient temperatures of Germany and Britain, compared to other countries Formula 1 has visited so far this season.
Nick Heidfeld gave his home crowd something to be cheery about too, as he showed some promise by posting consistently quick lap times in his BMW Sauber on super soft tyres, ending the session in fifth just behind the Red Bull of Webber.
A last ditch attempt by Vettel to move himself up the timesheets and above Hamilton wasn’t enough to dislodge the McLaren driver, although the young German will be confident about his chances of securing a second consecutive pole position in tomorrow’s qualifying session and of replicating his dominate performance of three weeks ago at Silverstone, in Sunday’s race. The Red Bull seems to enjoy the lower temperatures far more than the Brawn, but rain is forecast for Sunday and threatens to upset things for the young German who will be keen to clinch his third race victory of 2009 in front of his home crowd.
Hamilton on the other hand remains realistic but has higher hopes for Sunday’s race than for previous grands prix, as he believes he can achieve a top ten finish or possibly even challenge for points.
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