Heidfeld fastest in final free practice

F1 Grand Prix, GP Belgium, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Nick Heidfeld was the fastest man this morning at Spa Francorchamps. He outpaced Jarno Trulli who appears to be back in form, and Adrian Sutil in the first Force India. Renault's Romain Grosjean was an excellent 4th.

Early on in the session, Lewis Hamilton took the lead by setting a 1:46.588. His McLaren is especially fast in the first and final sectors, while the high speed corners of S2 do not seem to suit the MP4-24. As expected, the Newey cars are excelling there, with especially Alguersuari doing very well.

Several minutes later, Kimi Raikkonen is off the track and into the gravel trap. He is fortunate to be able to continue but the mishap has caused some damage to the car's floor. Back in the pitlane the mechanics immediately start work to his car.

Giancarlo Fisichella has others issues to deal with as his front wing got damaged after hitting an animal on the track. He continued the session with a Valencia front wing.

Another someone in problems is Mark Webber. He did not complete a single timed lap this morning. Three installation laps were enough to suspect engine problems, and the Renault engineers are carefully looking into it.

Fortunately though, some men didn't have problems, and Nick Heidfeld turned out on top, marginally ahead of Jarno Trulli. Lewis Hamilton is 9th, Jenson Button only 10th - possibly struggling to get heat in the tyres at only 14°C - and Vettel 14th.