Valencia, 21st August 2009

It was a small moment of history this morning when Felipe Massa’s replacement, Luca Badoer rolled down pit lane to start his first ever practice lap as a Ferrari race driver. For the Italian driver, in his Italian car, it was a childhood dream come true. By the end of the day, he had completed a total of 62 laps, the same number as his team-mate and ended up eighteenth fastest. The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver was under no pressure to produce quick lap times, as he settled into the car and got to know a new circuit, a task further complicated by the fact the Valencia track is always dirty and slippery at the start of the weekend. While Luca got on with his own programme, Kimi Raikkonen went through the usual Friday tasks of car set-up and tyre evaluation, ending up tenth quickest. For all the drivers, heat and humidity levels approaching those experienced in Malaysia, made life even more difficult. The mechanics also faced tough working conditions as the pit garages are based inside the old fish market, so that even the team trucks are under cover, which drastically limits the amount of air circulating around the working environment.




Much to the delight of the (small) crowd, Fernando Alonso waved the flag for Spain, setting the fastest lap in the Renault, the only man to duck below the 1m 40s barrier, despite a lurid spin and a collision with Heidfeld, which saw the BMW launched in the air in spectacular fashion. The two Brawns of Button and Barrichello were next up, followed by a brace of Williams, Rosberg ahead of Nakajima, with Sutil’s Force India rounding off the top six. Badoer was not the only new name on the entry list, as Romain Grosjean has replaced Nelson Piquet at Renault.