German narrowly tops Petrov in Valencia Nico Hülkenberg claimed the top spot, just, from Vitaly Petrov and Pastor Maldonado in a scintillating free practice session this morning in Valencia which ended with the top three split by just one tenth.
With the top time swapping hands throughout the session it was the German who claimed the position with a lap time of 1:46.871, stealing it back from Petrov by just 0.009 at the end of the a session which saw the pace on track matching the scorching conditions. Karun Chandhok and Maldonado set the early running, but Hülkenberg was soon equal to the challenge, setting the best lap so far ten minutes in despite stepping hard on the brakes at the final corner to avoid some drivers slowing for a visit to the pits.
One minute later Petrov surpassed his championship rival, and the battle was on. In a session that saw few driver errors - Edoardo Mortara spun twice but stayed off the walls, while a few others went too deep at the wide turn 13 but was able to cut across the run off to rejoin the track – all eyes were on the top three as they stretched away from their competitors and claimed, then reclaimed, the top position for the remainder of the session. But with Hülkenberg setting a lap half a second faster than Giorgio Pantano's equivalent lap last year with just two minutes remaining, and a combined desire to stay off the walls ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session, the battle was over for the time being, although the top three will be looking at the men behind them – Chandhok, Lucas di Grassi, Luca Filippi and Alvaro Parente – as much as at each other when the fight recommences a few hours hence.
Valencia – Free Practice Driver Team Time Laps
1. Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:46.871 13 2. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Addax Team 1:46.880 13 3. Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:46.974 14 4. Karun Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 1:47.115 14 5. Lucas di Grassi Fat Burner Racing Eng. 1:47.328 12 6. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:47.402 10 7. Alvaro Parente Ocean Racing Technology 1:47.516 15 8. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:47.730 15 9. Sergio Perez Telmex Arden International 1:47.858 13 10. Jérôme d’Ambrosio DAMS 1:47.937 14 11. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 1:47.986 14 12. Davide Valsecchi Barwa Addax Team 1:48.063 13 13. Diego Nunes iSport International 1:48.101 13 14. Dani Clos Fat Burner Racing Eng. 1:48.110 14 15. Edoardo Mortara Telmex Arden International 1:48.199 13 16. Franck Perera DPR 1:48.275 14 17. Giedo van der Garde iSport International 1:48.308 14 18. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:48.394 15 19. Alberto Valerio Piquet GP 1:48.518 14 20 Andreas Zuber Party Poker Racing.com SC 1:48.613 12 21. Michael Herck DPR 1:48.925 15 22. Diego Rigon Trident Racing 1:49.052 15 23. Luiz Razia Party Poker Racing.com SC 1:49.376 12 24. Ricardo Teixeira Trident Racing 1:51.092 ²14 25 Nelson Panciatici Durango -- 4 26. Stefano Coletti Durango -- 2
