Piquet leads the pack in final Magny-Cours practice

Nelson Piquet achieves fastest time in final practice for French grand prix

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Saturday, 21, Jun 2008 01:46

Nelson Piquet has achieved the fastest time in the final practice ahead of the French grand prix at Magny-Cours.

The Brazilian followed his team-mate Fernando Alonso's impressive form on Friday with the fastest lap of the day, finishing in one minute, 15.750 seconds.

Red Bull driver Mark Webber was second fastest, only nine thousandths of a second slower than Piquet while Sebastian Vettel, of Toro Rosso and Williams' Nico Rosberg were third and fourth fastest respectively.

Of the main title contenders, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fifth-fastest in 1:16.003 while Lewis Hamilton claimed the seventh fastest time in 1:16.182.

After last week's collision with Raikkonen in Montreal, the Briton faces an uphill struggle to finish among the points at Magny-Cours as he faces a ten-place grid penalty.

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais, Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari and Red Bull's David Coulthard completed the top ten while less than a second separated the top 18 drivers.

Final practice times for the French Grand Prix:

1. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 1:15.750
2. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull - Renault 1:15.759
3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1:15.827
4. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams - Toyota 1:15.974
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:16.003
6. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:16.147
7. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:16.182
8. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1:16.235
9. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:16.256
10. David Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull - Renault 1:16.282
11. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 1:16.344
12. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:16.437
13. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 1:16.545
14. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:16.617
15. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams - Toyota 1:16.644
16. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:16.651
17. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:16.658
18. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:16.687
19. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India - Ferrari 1:17.365
20. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India - Ferrari 1:17.612