Marcus Ericsson on top in free practice

  • Published on 22 Jun 2012 13:25
  • comments 0
  • By: Rob Veenstra
Marcus Ericsson has got his weekend off to a great start by setting the pace in this morning's free practice session in Valencia, claiming the top spot in the closing minutes to squeeze past Davide Valsecchi, Giedo van der Garde and teammate Jolyon Palmer at the top of the timesheets.

The Swede's best lap of 1: 48.088 was set with just over a minute remaining in the session to take P1 by less that two tenths in a red flag affected session, with the overcast conditions bringing yesterday's extreme temperatures down but with high winds causing additional problems for the field.

Stefano Coletti, Max Chilton and Davide Valsecchi set the early pace, with the Italian on top as the session approached the halfway mark, when Rodolfo Gonzalez lost his rear at the chicane at the end of the main straight and went backwards into the wall, causing the red flags to be brought out to allow the marshals to remove the stricken vehicle.

The session restarted with nine minutes remaining, handing all of the teams a big job to get through their programmes in a shortened period, and causing more traffic than usual as everyone rushed to get through their workloads.

But Ericsson took full advantage of a hole in the traffic to set the pace against improving times throughout the field. Behind the top four Johnny Cecotto, Chilton, Fabio Leimer, James Calado, Felipe Nasr and Coletti were all within a second of the top time, and will be looking for more in a hopefully unabridged qualifying session this afternoon.

Replies (0)

Login to reply

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team -
  • Points -
  • Podiums -
  • Grand Prix -
  • Country BR
  • Date of b. Aug 21 1992 (32)
  • Place of b. Brasilia, BR
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.75 m
Show full profile
show sidebar