The expected shake-up in the order just did not happen in the practice sessions in Barcelona. The teams to beat are still Brawn, Red Bull and Toyota, Williams is still putting on a great show with quick times and the giants of last year have not yet solved their problems, double diffuser or not.
Heikki Kovalainen
BMW had the most heavily revised car, albeit without double diffuser, and they went quickly in the first session, grabbing third and fourth fastest times. This looked less impressive in session two when Kubica and Heidfeld were only 16th and 17th, but BMW fans must hope that they were trying race settings and heavier fuel loads. Certainly, their times were a second quicker in the morning, which would confirm this.
Jenson was quickest for Brawn GP in session 1, dropping to sixth in the afternoon, and Barrichello managed tenth (P1) and fourth (P2). They both spent little time on the softer option tires, however, and were probably working on the race rather than showing off. I have no doubt that they will be in the hunt for pole in qualifying.
Toyota put in some quick times in the first session, Trulli ending up second with Glock eighth, but took the BMW strategy of race settings in the afternoon. Eighteenth and nineteenth spots are definitely not representative of their true potential.
Two teams that seem to have been reading my blog were Renault and Williams. They changed their strategy somewhat by allowing the second driver to have the same settings as the lead and the times reflected this. Nakajima was right with Rosberg in the first session (5th and 6th) and then headed the time sheets for a long time in the afternoon, finally being bumped down a peg by one of Rosberg's late runs. The resultant 1-2 for Williams really needs to be converted into a similar showing in qualifying if we are not to start discounting these practice showings from Williams.
Piquet was quick in both sessions in spite of visiting the gravel traps quite frequently and he proves that the Renault's improvements have made a difference. They are well ahead of Ferrari and McLaren and very close to being able to worry the front runners, especially when Alonso has a go with a light fuel load.
Webber and Vettel in the Red Bulls looked fast and set the pace on occasion. In the end they were a little down on where we have come to expect (5th and 7th in P2), confirming that the RB5 is less competitive on circuits that require high downforce. Watch out for them in Monaco, however. The sister team, Toro Rosso, improved somewhat from their previous races, Buemi again leading the way with 9th in the afternoon, Bourdais in 11th.
Fisichella in the Force India made steady progress through the sessions and ended up twelfth, just ahead of the McLarens. It was a shame that Sutil could not run in the second session due to a fuel tank problem but the team must be heartened by their continuing improvement.
As for the big boys, Ferrari and McLaren, it appears that their updates have made little difference to their places in the pecking order. This may change tomorrow when everyone's hand is revealed but they will not be disputing pole, that is for sure.
In both sessions the entire field was covered by a mere two seconds, once again emphasizing how closely matched the cars are this year. KERS and diffusers may make a difference but it is small indeed. Qualifying tomorrow is going to be edge-of-the-seat stuff and it is anyone's guess as to who gets left behind in Q1 and Q2. Expect the letter 'B' to feature prominently in the fight for pole...