F1: Sutil Leads Rain Soaked Second Practice

Formula 1

F1: Sutil Leads Rain Soaked Second Practice

The Suzuka circuit was silent for the first hour of the second practice Friday afternoon...

SPEED Staff | Posted October 02, 2009 Suzuka (JPN)

Adrian Sutil was fastest out of the gate in Germany. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The stands were packed, the green light came on, but heavy rain prevented most cars from leaving the paddock for the second practice at Suzuka Friday afternoon until the last 30 minutes of the 90-minute session.

Adrian Sutil led the session with a time of 1:47.261, which was nearly eight seconds off the pace set by Heikki Kovalainen in the morning practice. Sebastian Vettel was second, with Stuil’s Force India teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi in third, Lewis Hamilton was fourth with Kazuki Nakajima rounding out the top five.

When the session first started only Toro Rosso teammates Jamie Alguersuari and Sebastian Buemi eased out onto the track and made a slow lap punctuated by a great deal of slipping and sliding before pulling back into the paddock.

Soon after the garage fell silent as teams waited out the weather.

The problem wasn’t necessarily the rain, but the fact that the showers were heavy enough to cause several areas of standing water on the circuit making any type of action on track impossible.

The heavy rain also sent rivers of water flowing in the downhill pit lane and across several areas of the track, leaving the drivers not willing to risk their cars in the puddles or more importantly use up their limited supply of rain tires.

"It's tough because we don't have enough tires," said McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, according to British radio BBC. "If we had more, I'm sure everyone would go out, but everyone is concerned it might rain tomorrow and Sunday -- although the forecast doesn't suggest that.”

With 30 minutes left Fernando Alonso went out to try a lap, but gave up after one circuit. The team made some changes on his Renault before sending him back out. Jamie Alguersuari returned followed shortly after by Alonso’s teammate Romain Grosjean.

Others soon joined the trio and with just over ten minutes left, a total of 17 cars took laps.

Heikki Kovalainen, and both Brawn GP teammates Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello stayed in the garage.

Qualifying should be dry on Saturday afternoon, but the morning practice session may also be wet.

"It would be very exciting to go into qualifying with your first very dry laps. You would have to guess your set up a bit," said Nick Heidfeld.

Second Practice Times

Pos Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:47.261 5
2 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:47.923 0.662 6
3 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:47.931 0.670 5
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:47.983 0.722 5
5 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:48.058 0.797 8
6 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:48.691 1.430 9
7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:48.693 1.432 5
8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:48.737 1.476 7
9 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:48.802 1.541 11
10 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:48.861 1.600 6
11 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:48.886 1.625 5
12 Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 1:49.054 1.793 7
13 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:49.382 2.121 7
14 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:49.405 2.144 6
15 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:49.553 2.292 5
16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:49.872 2.611 8
17 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:50.179 2.918 10
18 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes No time 0
19 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes No time 0
20 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes No time 0

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