Fernando Alonso (McLaren Mercedes) used Bridgestone's soft compound Potenza to set the fastest
time in Friday's running at Spa Francorchamps for this weekend's ING Belgian Grand Prix.
Alonso put in a time of 1min 46.654secs in the latter half of the afternoon 90-minute practice session
to be the fastest driver by just over a tenth from team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who also set his fastest
time on the soft compound Potenza tyre.
The morning practice session saw Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) fastest, with a lap time of 1min
47.339secs and Hamilton second quickest, over half a second adrift. Given the nature of this circuit
as the longest on the F1 calendar, there was a greater gap covering the field, with the slowest car
just over four seconds off the pace of the fastest.
The circuit basked in uncharacteristic blue skies and sunshine, although temperatures were cooler
than experienced at the majority of Grands Prix this year.
Kees van de Grint, Bridgestone Motorsport Head of Track Engineering Operations:
"It was quite an unusual Friday practice session in many respects. We did not have the usual rain in
Spa and also the tyres performed very well for what is the first day of running. The appearance of the
tyres was particularly good and we did not see the graining we would usually associate with Friday's
running."
"However, we should not sing our praises before the chequered flag as we still have two days
to run yet. The grip levels from the track today were quite low. The soft compound provided a faster
lap time of more than half a second, if the car and driver could get the full benefit from the extra grip it
provided, but it was critical to get the optimum lap."
Stats of the Day
Total amount of laps completed by all drivers: 1054 laps
Average number of laps per driver: 48 laps
Most laps by a driver: 61 - Sebastian Vettel
Fastest lap: 1min 46.654secs - F Alonso (FP2)
Compounds used: Medium and soft
-credit: bridgestone
