By Huw Alban
June 30 2006

Midland F1 Racing put all the dramas of Canada last weekend behind them with a strong, competitive show of pace during the second free practice session at Indianapolis. Giorgio Mondini recorded a scorching time of 1.13.327, only 1.3 seconds off the pace and good enough for 5th spot on the timesheet.

Due to my better halve's Birthday dinner I missed the first few minutes of the second free practice session, but once the timing screen was up and running Giorgio Mondini and Tiago Monteiro were out on track and the clock read 52 minutes to go. At this point in time the Track Status was yellow, and this was because Frank Montagny was stopped somewhere in sector 1.

After 3 timed laps Tiago Monteiro returned to the Midland F1 pit, leaving Giorgio Mondini still circulating. Monteiro's best time so far was a 1.16.386, with the gap to the front a rather large 3.162 seconds.

With 44 minutes remaining Christijan Albers took to the track for the first time this session, joining Mondini who was on his 13th lap with a best time of 1.15.234. Four minutes later Tiago Monteiro joins the fun. Interestingly both the race drivers are posting times in the 1.16s with Mondini (now on his 20th lap) in the low 1.15s.

Christijan didn't put many laps in and returned to the garage. Looking at their sector times the team seems to be struggling for pace in sectors 2 and 3.

At the half way mark Mondini finally returns to the garage after completing a mammoth 22 laps. His best lap time is currently only good for 19th fastest, just under 2.5 seconds off the pace.

Christijan Albers took to the track again with 27 minutes to go, and he was joined very quickly by Giorgio Mondini.

After a couple of laps, Giorgio Mondini suddenly finds his stride and posts a 1.13.994 - good enough for 11th at this point in the session! He pits a lap later.

With 13 minutes to go, all Midland F1 drivers are in the garage and it's not looking too good. Christijan Albers is 26th, Tiago Monteiro is 27th, and Giorgio Mondini's best time so far is now only good enough for 13th. As if he heard me type that, Mondini takes to the track again and improves on his next flying lap to a 1.13.327, now good enough 5th! Way to go Giorgio!

Not to be outdone, Christijan Albers puts in a belter of his own on a 1.14.169, good enough for 18th! Mondini's hard work earlier today continues to pay off with Tiago Monteiro also putting in a stormer on a 1.13.387, placing him 7th!

Perhaps next time I write a Grand Prix preview I need to be more negative - the team are certainly proving my predictions wrong at the moment.

The session ended with Mondini 5th, Monteiro 7th and Albers a distant 21st. Mondini's best time was only 1.3 seconds shy of the pace showing a dramatic improvement in performance over this mornings times. Third practice tomorrow should be very interesting indeed.

Full timesheets from the second free practice session for the United States Grand Prix:

1 Anthony Davidson Honda 1:12.013
2 Robert Kubica Sauber-BMW 1:12.809
3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:12.933
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:13.264
5 Giorgio Mondini MF1-Toyota 1:13.327
6 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:13.346
7 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 1:13.387
8 Jenson Button Honda 1:13.397
9 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:13.474
10 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.554
11 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth 1:13.688
12 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1:13.691
13 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW 1:13.725
14 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth 1:13.735
15 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.825
16 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-BMW 1:13.857
17 Neel Jani STR-Cosworth 1:13.946
18 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:14.011
19 Alexander Wurz Williams-Cosworth 1:14.050
20 Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari 1:14.084
21 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 1:14.169
22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:14.391
23 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:14.449
24 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1:14.562
25 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari 1:14.676
26 Robert Doornbos RBR-Ferrari 1:14.839
27 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:15.063
28 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 1:15.120

Show your support for Midland F1 Racing by clicking on the banner above and signing up.