Vettel quickest in Abu Dhabi ahead of qualifying

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Abu Dhabi, 2010

Sebastian Vettel headed the times at the end of the final practice session at Yas Marina.

Both Red Bulls were fastest in the one-hour session ahead of qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton over half a second behind in third.

Fernando Alonso split the two McLarens to go fourth-fastest.

In a session that saw hotter temperatures than yesterday’s running the two RB6s were rarely headed. Vettel was able to set a 1’41.2 on the medium tyres, which few drivers were able to beat or even match on the super-soft tyres.

Vitaly Petrov underlined Renault’s pace with the sixth-fastest time ahead of the two Mercedes.

The Sauber of Nick Heidfeld completed the top ten.

Pos.CarDriverCarBest lapGapLaps
15Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’40.69618
26Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’40.8290.13315
32Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’41.2800.58413
48Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’41.4900.79414
51Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’41.5780.88217
612Vitaly PetrovRenault1’41.6890.99317
73Michael SchumacherMercedes1’41.6900.99418
84Nico RosbergMercedes1’41.7291.03317
911Robert KubicaRenault1’41.8771.18118
1022Nick HeidfeldSauber-Ferrari1’41.8931.19720
1110Nico HulkenbergWilliams-Cosworth1’41.9341.23818
127Felipe MassaFerrari1’41.9781.28214
139Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’42.3161.62015
1423Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’42.5661.87016
1514Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’42.5871.89118
1615Vitantonio LiuzziForce India-Mercedes1’42.8582.16214
1717Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’42.9932.29720
1816Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’43.3442.64818
1919Heikki KovalainenLotus-Cosworth1’44.8764.18015
2018Jarno TrulliLotus-Cosworth1’45.0484.35223
2124Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’45.0504.35420
2221Bruno SennaHRT-Cosworth1’45.4904.79416
2325Lucas di GrassiVirgin-Cosworth1’45.6294.93322
2420Christian KlienHRT-Cosworth1’46.4645.76817

Practice three ultimate laps

An ultimate lap is a driver’s best three sector times added together.

Pos.CarDriverCarUltimate lapGapDeficit to best
15Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’40.6780.018
26Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’40.7600.0820.069
31Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’41.1080.4300.470
42Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’41.1290.4510.151
512Vitaly PetrovRenault1’41.4270.7490.262
68Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’41.4900.8120.000
77Felipe MassaFerrari1’41.5640.8860.414
83Michael SchumacherMercedes1’41.5690.8910.121
911Robert KubicaRenault1’41.6070.9290.270
104Nico RosbergMercedes1’41.7231.0450.006
1110Nico HulkenbergWilliams-Cosworth1’41.8241.1460.110
1222Nick HeidfeldSauber-Ferrari1’41.8291.1510.064
139Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’42.0421.3640.274
1423Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’42.2031.5250.363
1514Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’42.4901.8120.097
1617Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’42.5501.8720.000
1715Vitantonio LiuzziForce India-Mercedes1’42.7002.0220.158
1816Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’43.0642.3860.280
1919Heikki KovalainenLotus-Cosworth1’44.8764.1980.000
2018Jarno TrulliLotus-Cosworth1’44.8794.2010.169
2124Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’44.9864.3080.064
2221Bruno SennaHRT-Cosworth1’45.3014.6230.189
2325Lucas di GrassiVirgin-Cosworth1’45.4004.7220.229
2420Christian KlienHRT-Cosworth1’46.3965.7180.068

Combined Abu Dhabi practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2FP3Total laps
1Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’42.7601’41.1451’40.69664
2Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’43.8401’41.3151’40.82963
3Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’43.3691’40.8881’41.28054
4Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’44.1211’41.3141’41.49060
5Robert KubicaRenault1’44.0801’41.5761’41.87768
6Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’43.7851’42.1321’41.57864
7Felipe MassaFerrari1’45.1601’41.5831’41.97853
8Vitaly PetrovRenault1’45.4451’42.0961’41.68969
9Michael SchumacherMercedes1’44.1991’42.2461’41.69066
10Nico RosbergMercedes1’44.7181’42.2221’41.72965
11Nick HeidfeldSauber-Ferrari1’44.7371’42.9501’41.89373
12Nico HulkenbergWilliams-Cosworth1’46.6641’42.4491’41.93469
13Vitantonio LiuzziForce India-Mercedes1’45.5851’42.2031’42.85859
14Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’45.4741’42.9141’42.31667
15Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’45.5521’42.5351’42.58759
16Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’44.6041’42.7681’42.56660
17Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’46.0031’43.1281’42.99357
18Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’47.1051’43.5841’43.34473
19Heikki KovalainenLotus-Cosworth1’45.1801’44.87651
20Jarno TrulliLotus-Cosworth1’48.4721’45.6121’45.04875
21Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’48.4501’45.2591’45.05070
22Bruno SennaHRT-Cosworth1’49.5901’47.4341’45.49062
23Lucas di GrassiVirgin-Cosworth1’49.3751’46.0531’45.62964
24Christian KlienHRT-Cosworth1’50.2741’47.2101’46.46466
25Fairuz FauzyLotus-Cosworth1’51.70518

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    21 comments on “Vettel quickest in Abu Dhabi ahead of qualifying”

    1. MSC really raised his game lately!

      1. So did Petrov. Let’s see if they can do the same in the race.

        1. MSC has really improved relative to Rosberg lately. Petrov – nah, that’s a one off for him.
          But Massa… he kinda lost it completely.

          1. Wh..who is Massa. The name rings a bell but, I can’t link the name with a person. Although, I haven’t been able to for some time…

            1. i bet he is going to be 5th in front of the other most disapointing team mate jenson button

        2. In Qualifying he was 10th, beating Kubica, so for now he’s going quite well.

    2. And McLaren are hiding their true pace as well as Ferrari who are playing down their speed by not running at the very end of the session.

    3. Could be the closest Qualifying in a while. Button slowed on his fastest lap to find space and then blow the next lap. Looks like a 4 or 5 horse race for pole to me, everyone hiding their pace a bit

      1. Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Button and Webber all very close.

    4. hmmm.. This is way to thrilling! Can’t stand it!

    5. Fernando will have serious problems if won’t qualiffy better or won’t start better to split both RBRs.
      0,8 sec per lap is a huge gap. The hope is he didn’t show all in FP3.

    6. The Red Bulls may have been faster, but Alonso didn’t go out late and Button backed off on one lap when he was fastest through S2 and then slid off the road on another quick lap, so I think the times are a little misleading.

    7. Ferrari is hiding its real pace?? and Masa is in 12th position… I dont think so…

      1. Yep I really dont think Ferrari is hiding much.. they just seem way off the RBs and Mclarens. I think Fernando’s hope is Lewis taking pole or atleast splitting Vettel and Webber

        1. I wouldnt say Ferrari are hiding much. Possibly didnt go out in the last session because of Fernando’s engine mileage?

    8. Younger Hamilton
      13th November 2010, 11:28

      I think McLaren look good in all sectors despite only going fastest through Sectors 1 and 2.The McLarens look like they have a bit more fuel than in Qualifying.I would expect a Red Bull pole though but hey if Ferrari and McLaren really are sandbagging a bit then it might be a close one for pole.

    9. Really hope that Ferrari and Mclaren are hidding their true pace or this race will be a walk in the garden for the Red Bulls.
      One thing i can tell you, wasn´t expecting those results from p2 and p3, was expecting the 3 teams much closer.

      1. When was the last race that wasn’t a cakewalk for Red Bull? Monza is the last one I can think of.

        1. Yup you´re right, it´s amazing how everything worked out that we can see Mclaren and Ferrari still have a shot to win it, think i´ve to congratulate Red Bull for that.

    10. Ooh, I like seeing a McLaren between the Red Bulls.

      1. Correction: a McLaren between the Red Bulls and Ferrari.

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