Sutil quickest in Italian GP practice



Adrian Sutil was the surprise name at the top of the timesheets as Force India threatened another shock result in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. A fortnight after Giancarlo Fisichella claimed pole and finished second in Belgium, breaking the team's points duck in Formula One, Sutil underlined their improvement. The German posted the fastest lap of the day in the afternoon 90-minute session around Monza, narrowly edging out Lewis Hamilton, who was quickest in the morning, by 0.012 seconds. Sutil recorded a time of one minute 23.924 seconds for the 5.793 kilometre track, finishing 0.239 secs ahead of another shock name in Renault's Romain Grosjean. The French marque, currently embroiled in scandal over the 'crash-gate' furore, finished second and third in the afternoon session, with double world champion Fernando Alonso nearly 0.4 secs adrift of Sutil. Renault's improvement is due to the fact they have reinstalled KERS on their cars for this race, the system providing a burst of power at the touch of a button. McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, who had finished second to Hamilton earlier in the day, was fourth in the afternoon, followed by the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica and Toyota's Timo Glock. Glock had finished bottom in the morning, with the German involved in the only major incident of the day, spinning prior to bouncing heavily over the newly remoulded and far higher kerbs that now dominate the three chicanes around the track. Nick Heidfeld was seventh for a resurgent BMW Sauber, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen eighth, followed by the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi. Hamilton was forced to settle for 11th, almost a second slower than his morning run and evidently running a different spec. Vitantonio Liuzzi, on his debut for Force India after replacing Fisichella, was 12th, just under a second behind teammate Sutil. If the top of the order was a surprise, so was the bottom five as Rubens Barrichello was 16th for Brawn GP, followed by Nico Rosberg in his Williams and Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull. Championship leader Jenson Button was a lowly 19th in his Brawn, 1.5 secs behind Sutil and 0.7 secs slower than in the morning as he, too, tested out different options. As for the rear of the field, that was brought up by Fisichella on his first drive for Ferrari, but, like Hamilton and Button, his time of 1:25.543 was appreciably slower than his best lap earlier in the day.

* PA Sport

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
57%20Seconds
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Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

Race results:

1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min

2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec

3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

World Cup warm-up fixtures

Friday, May 24:

  • Pakistan v Afghanistan (Bristol)
  • Sri Lanka v South Africa (Cardiff)

Saturday, May 25

  • England v Australia (Southampton)
  • India v New Zealand (The Oval, London)

Sunday, May 26

  • South Africa v West Indies (Bristol)
  • Pakistan v Bangladesh (Cardiff)

Monday, May 27

  • Australia v Sri Lanka (Southampton)
  • England v Afghanistan (The Oval, London)

Tuesday, May 28

  • West Indies v New Zealand (Bristol)
  • Bangladesh v India (Cardiff)