Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso set each the fastest time in the two free practice sessions of the Grand Prix of Belgium held on the gruelling circuit of Spa-Francorchamps. As it is often the case in the Ardennes region, rain and chilly temperature were a factor.

Mark Webber

Felipe Massa of the Scuderia Ferrari dominated the morning sessions with a time of 1'47.284, bating his teammate Kimi Raikkonen and the McLaren-Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen.

Rain threatened during the lunch break. Hamilton immediately went out to set a quick time. He was indeed quickest when the drizzle started. Several drivers lots control of their cars, including
Raikkonen, Giancarlo Fisichella and Mark Webber.

Rain stopped and a dry racing line started to appear. In this difficult driving conditions, Fernando Alonso (Renault) set the quickest time (1'48.454), beating Massa, Kovalainen and Hamilton.

Moring free practice session
Name Car Time Laps
1 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2008) - 1'47"284 - 26
2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F2008) - 1'47"623 - 26
3 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/23-Mercedes) - 1'47"878 - 27
4 - Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/23-Mercedes) - 1'47"932 - 24
5 - Fernando Alonso (Renault R28) - 1'48"104 - 26
6 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB3-Renault) - 1'48"428 - 29
7 - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR3-Ferrari) - 1'48"557 - 31
8 - Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso STR3-Ferrari) - 1'48"958 - 24
9 - Timo Glock (Toyota TF108) - 1'48"997 - 26
10 - Nelson Piquet (Renault R28) - 1'49"068 - 25
11 - Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber F1.08) - 1'49"139 - 25
12 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber F1.08) - 1'49"185 - 26
13 - Nico Rosberg (Williams FW30-Toyota) - 1'49"611 - 30
14 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF108) - 1'49"625 - 14
15 - David Coulthard (Red Bull RB3-Renault) - 1'49"849 - 18
16 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM01-Ferrari) - 1'49"986 - 27
17 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM01-Ferrari) - 1'50"117 - 19
18 - Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW30-Toyota) - 1'50"125 - 30
19 - Jenson Button (Honda RA108) - 1'50"464 - 25
20 - Rubens Barrichello (Honda RA108) - 1'50"905 - 25

Afternoon free practice session
1 - Fernando Alonso (Renault R28) - 1'48"454 - 21
2 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2008) - 1'48"504 - 15
3 - Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/23-Mercedes) - 1'48"740 - 194
4 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/23-Mercedes) - 1'48"805 - 17
5 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F2008) - 1'49"328 - 10
6 - Nico Rosberg (Williams FW30-Toyota) - 1'49"405 - 17
7 - Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso STR3-Ferrari) - 1'49"427 - 28
8 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM01-Ferrari) - 1'49"585 - 22
9 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF108) - 1'49"715 - 22
10 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber F1.08) - 1'49"725 - 21
11 - Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber F1.08) - 1'49"875 - 22
12 - David Coulthard (Red Bull RB3-Renault) - 1'49"922 - 20
13 - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR3-Ferrari) - 1'49"948 - 20
14 - Timo Glock (Toyota TF108) - 1'50"281 - 23
15 - Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW30-Toyota) - 1'50"364 - 20
16 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM01-Ferrari) - 1'50"740 - 11
17 - Jenson Button (Honda RA108) - 1'50"925 - 18
18 - Rubens Barrichello (Honda RA108) - 1'51"238 - 22
19 - Nelson Piquet (Renault R28) - 1'51"334 - 18
20 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB3-Renault) - 1'51"640 - 7


Photo Credit : GEPA Pictures