KIDWCKED
07-24-2010, 12:24 AM
c/p from tsn by the a/p
HOCKENHEIM, Germany -- Fernando Alonso of Spain drove the fastest lap in Friday's afternoon practice session for the German Grand Prix, raising hopes Ferrari may be capable of challenging McLaren and Red Bull.
The afternoon session was held in much drier conditions after the wet run in the morning, and drivers were about 10 seconds faster.
Alonso, who was 19th in the morning, bounced back to clock one minute 16.265 seconds in the afternoon on the 4.6-kilometre Hockenheimring circuit. Qualifying is Saturday and the Formula One race is on Sunday.
"We have seen before on Fridays that we are very competitive and then on Saturday, the Red Bulls are clearly quicker, so we have to take this result with a grain of salt," Alonso said.
Sebastian Vettel of Germany prevented a 1-2 for Ferrari by taking second in his Red Bull with a best lap of 1:16.294.
"The conditions were not easy today," Vettel said. "They were quite changeable, which made judging lap times difficult, but we got some dry running in the afternoon, which was important.
"I think it's looking quite good and the car feels good, especially in the last section. Ferrari looked extremely competitive. McLaren had a difficult day with only one car for the majority of running, but they will come back and be up there."
HOCKENHEIM, Germany -- Fernando Alonso of Spain drove the fastest lap in Friday's afternoon practice session for the German Grand Prix, raising hopes Ferrari may be capable of challenging McLaren and Red Bull.
The afternoon session was held in much drier conditions after the wet run in the morning, and drivers were about 10 seconds faster.
Alonso, who was 19th in the morning, bounced back to clock one minute 16.265 seconds in the afternoon on the 4.6-kilometre Hockenheimring circuit. Qualifying is Saturday and the Formula One race is on Sunday.
"We have seen before on Fridays that we are very competitive and then on Saturday, the Red Bulls are clearly quicker, so we have to take this result with a grain of salt," Alonso said.
Sebastian Vettel of Germany prevented a 1-2 for Ferrari by taking second in his Red Bull with a best lap of 1:16.294.
"The conditions were not easy today," Vettel said. "They were quite changeable, which made judging lap times difficult, but we got some dry running in the afternoon, which was important.
"I think it's looking quite good and the car feels good, especially in the last section. Ferrari looked extremely competitive. McLaren had a difficult day with only one car for the majority of running, but they will come back and be up there."