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FORMULA 1: Hockenheim day two - Hamilton continues to fly

/noticias.info/ McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was again the pacesetter at Hockenheim on Wednesday as the Formula One teams continued preparations for next weekend’s German Grand Prix. Hamilton finished day two half a second ahead of nearest rival, Williams’ Nico Rosberg.

With drier conditions than on Tuesday, the British driver covered 101 laps in the MP4-23, while Rosberg completed 117 in Williams’ FW30. Four-tenths of a second adrift of the German was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen who spent his last day in the F2008 evaluating set-up for the forthcoming Hockenheim race. Team mate Massa will test for the Italian squad on Thursday.

"I am reasonably satisfied with the way things went during these two days of testing,” said Raikkonen. "We mainly tried to find settings for the car which will allow us to be in good shape for the Grand Prix. I think we will also be competitive on this track, as indeed we have been for the year so far. The speed isn’t lacking.”

Fourth fastest was David Coulthard for Red Bull. Coulthard concentrated on race preparation for the German event in the morning, covering 42 laps. He handed the RB4 over to team mate Mark Webber in the afternoon, who finished in 10th. Webber focused on long-term mechanical development work and also completed a couple of aero tests.

Finishing high up the order for the second day running was Adrian Sutil for Force India in fifth. Sutil covered 97 laps as he worked through a programme of suspension, set-up and tyre comparison work.

“It was a good day, and we were able to test several items,” he explained. “In the morning we had an issue with the engine and lost some time, and again the windy conditions made things difficult, but in the afternoon the balance came back. It was getting better and better and we could do some good lap times, so I was quite happy.”

Fellow German Sebastian Vettel finished a tenth down on Sutil in sixth. Vettel, who took over the STR3 from team mate Sebastien Bourdais (12th) in the afternoon, carried out set-up work and a tyre comparision. In the morning, Bourdais had completed a similar programme, but an off-track moment at Turn 12 limited the Frenchman’s running.

Timo Glock took up the seventh slot in the Toyota. Glock, preparing for his first-ever home Grand Prix, completed a lengthy programme of aerodynamic and mechanical work, covering 114 laps.

“It was a good, solid day,” he commented. “We got through a lot of work. I was able to do some aerodynamic evaluations in the morning and then did some brake and tyre comparisons in the afternoon. We worked towards a base set-up rather than fine-tuning and I'm hoping to have a strong race in front of my home supporters next weekend.”

Fernando Alonso finished the day eighth for Renault. Alonso covered 106 laps as he kickstarted a programme of preparation for next week's race, which concentrated on set-up, aero work and some brake testing. He will continue to test on Thursday.

"It's been a good day and we completed a lot of laps which has given us some useful information for the race next week,” he said. “The track conditions were good, it remained dry and because it was cloudy, we had a constant track temperature, which is always useful for testing. So we have made some progress with the car, but there is still more work to do tomorrow.”

Fresh from his podium triumph in the British Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello finished ninth for Honda, while Nick Heidfeld took up the 11th slot for BMW Sauber. Heidfeld covered 115 laps as he focused on tyre testing and the mechanical and aerodynamic set-up of the F1.08.

Testing continues at Hockenheim on Thursday.

Unofficial Wednesday times from Hockenheim:
1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:14.872
2. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:15.257
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:15.296
4. David Coulthard, Red Bull, 1:15.767
5. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:15.945
6. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:15.955
7. Timo Glock, Toyota, 1:15.995
8. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1:16.141
9. Rubens Barrichello, Honda, 1:16.144
10. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:16.217
11. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:16.235
12. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 1:16.550 notas_de_prensa_archivo