Formula 1: Fernando Alonso maintains for the U.S. Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso was the fastest Formula-1 driver in both free practice sessions on Friday in preparation for the USA Grand Prix on Sunday.

Formula 1: Fernando Alonso maintains for the U.S. Grand Prix The two-time world champion is currently trailing eight points behind the leader Hamilton has the determination to take back the lead at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the 17th. In the morning lap he stopped the clock at one minute 11.925 seconds and in the afternoon he maintained his great performance and finished at one minute 12.156 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton, who became the first black driver to win a Formula-One race last week in Canada, finished 0.153 seconds behind Alonso. Hamilton had no experience on the Indianapolis track, brushing some walls , but still exhibiting his great driving style and quickly got acquainted with the 4.192 kilometres of the Speedway.

Lap record for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway belongs to Barrichello who clocked a lap at 1'10.399 in 2004. Speeds of over 340 km/h will be seen this Sunday at the U.S. Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso remains the favorite to win the Sunday Formula 1 race, according to the British online oddsmaker Bet365 (new window). The bookie has the odds on Alonso at 2.00 (1/1), but Hamilton is right behind the Spaniard with odds to win the USA Grand Prix at 2.37 (11/8) only. Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen are the only other drivers with single digit odds at 7.00 (6/1) and 7.50 (13/2) respectively. The holder of the lap record for Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Rubens Barrichello, has the odds on winning this year at 201.00 (200/1) and Christijan Albers is the underdog with the whopping odds of 2001.00 (2000/1) to win the Formula 1 race.

The top 5 drivers at the first practice:

1. Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Mercedes) - 1:11.925

2. Nick Heidfeld (BMW) - 1:12.391

3. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) - 1:12.628

4. Sebastian Vettel (BMW) - 1:12.869

5. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) - 1:12.966

Top 5 drivers at the second practice:

1. Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Mercedes) - 1:12.156

2. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) - 1:12.309

3. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) - 1:12.435

4. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) - 1:12.587

5. Nick Heidfeld (BMW) - 1:13.026

The Saturday practice will start at 10am local time and the qualifiers for the USA Grand Prix will be at 1pm local. The Formula-1 race will start on Sunday, 17th, at 1pm local time.

Published on 06/15/2007