Vettel makes it three out of three in final practice

2011 Chinese GP third practice

April 16, 2011 at 5:09 am by
19 comments
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Shanghai, 2011

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Shanghai, 2011

Sebastian Vettel remains the man to beat in Shanghai after final practice.

The Red Bull driver was fastest by 0.2 seconds ahead of the McLarens.

But team mate Mark Webber was only 15th after losing time in the final session due to problems with his Kinetic Energy Recovery System.

The McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were second and third.

Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes took fourth ahead of the Ferraris, led by Fernando Alonso.

Vitaly Petrov, Adrian Sutil, Michael Schumacher and Paul di Resta completed the top ten.

One of few incidents in a largely quiet session came at the end of the hour, when Jerome d’Ambrosio’s Virgin lost part of its front wing at turn 13.

Pos. Car Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’34.968 13
2 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’35.176 0.208 15
3 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1’35.373 0.405 14
4 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’35.677 0.709 18
5 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’35.818 0.850 17
6 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1’35.971 1.003 15
7 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1’36.098 1.130 18
8 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1’36.125 1.157 15
9 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1’36.141 1.173 14
10 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1’36.370 1.402 19
11 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1’36.404 1.436 16
12 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1’36.582 1.614 18
13 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1’36.596 1.628 17
14 18 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’36.717 1.749 16
15 2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1’36.896 1.928 5
16 19 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’36.953 1.985 14
17 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1’37.007 2.039 20
18 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1’37.304 2.336 18
19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1’38.176 3.208 12
20 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1’38.739 3.771 12
21 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1’39.938 4.970 17
22 25 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1’39.998 5.030 16
23 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1’40.593 5.625 17
24 22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1’40.881 5.913 18

Combined practice times

Pos Driver Car FP1 FP2 FP3 Total laps
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’38.739 1’37.688 1’34.968 70
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’40.940 1’37.935 1’35.176 68
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1’40.845 1’37.854 1’35.373 57
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’41.361 1’37.943 1’35.677 75
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’41.434 1’39.779 1’35.818 49
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1’41.046 1’38.507 1’35.971 76
7 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1’41.231 1’38.859 1’36.098 65
8 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1’38.735 1’36.125 50
9 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1’42.301 1’38.105 1’36.141 66
10 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1’41.610 1’36.370 37
11 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1’40.987 1’38.805 1’36.404 47
12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1’43.792 1’39.538 1’36.582 71
13 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1’41.189 1’39.953 1’36.596 67
14 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’41.328 1’39.771 1’36.717 55
15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1’39.354 1’39.327 1’36.896 65
16 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’39.828 1’36.953 39
17 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1’41.939 1’39.925 1’37.007 77
18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1’41.222 1’39.667 1’37.304 75
19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1’41.579 1’40.476 1’38.176 55
20 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1’41.482 1’38.739 44
21 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1’44.438 1’44.747 1’39.938 40
22 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1’44.089 1’44.008 1’39.998 71
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1’44.359 1’43.850 1’40.593 38
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1’45.019 1’42.902 1’40.881 66
25 Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’41.494 20
26 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’41.752 20
27 Luiz Razia Lotus-Cosworth 1’44.542 18

2011 Chinese Grand Prix

Browse all 2011 Chinese Grand Prix articles

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Read more: 2011 Chinese Grand Prix | 2011 F1 practice sessions | 2011 F1 season | Adrian Sutil | Felipe Massa | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | Force India | Heikki Kovalainen | HRT F1 | Jaime Alguersuari | Jarno Trulli | Jenson Button | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Kamui Kobayashi | Lewis Hamilton | Lotus | Lucas di Grassi | Mark Webber | McLaren | Mercedes Grand Prix | Michael Schumacher | Narain Karthikeyan | Nick Heidfeld | Nico Rosberg | Pastor Maldonado | Paul di Resta | Red Bull | Renault | Robert Kubica | Rubens Barrichello | Sauber | Scuderia Toro Rosso | Sebastian Vettel | Sebastien Buemi | Sergio Perez | Timo Glock | Virgin Racing | Vitaly Petrov | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Williams

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19 comments on Vettel makes it three out of three in final practice

  1. trulli dead said on 16th April 2011, 5:12

    Webber better hope that his KERS starts working soon!

    Reply
  2. Avatar Image

    RIISE (@riise) said on 16th April 2011, 5:13

    Well it looks like Mercedes have finally sorted out there DRS problems and found a setup that suits the car and the drivers. Good to see.

    As for Red Bull/Vettel, what can you really say. Pole by about 4 tenths?

    ReplyReport user

  3. Hoshi said on 16th April 2011, 5:37

    i am personally happy to see Karthikeyan is on 3 tenths behind liuzzi now..not a full second like earlier..i think he is getting his bearings back after such a long time out of the sport..

    Reply
    • Avatar Image

      RIISE (@riise) said on 16th April 2011, 5:41

      I still think Nahrain is a worthless (Well not to HRT obviously) annoying idiot, I preferred Sakon.

      ReplyReport user

      • tony said on 16th April 2011, 6:10

        I think ur from japan. How is sakon better then narain? Just give him a better car then u’ll knw. He is quick & got aggressive driving style. On his day he can even win a race or podium.

        Reply
  4. Avatar Image

    Mr.Nice (@mr-nice) said on 16th April 2011, 5:45

    Anyone for MSc spoiling the McLaren/Ferrari party??? Flying Nick doesn’t seem to be flying as yet…

    ReplyReport user

  5. Raveendhana said on 16th April 2011, 5:46

    good to see force india back in top ten.

    Reply
  6. Avatar Image

    Eggry (@eggry) said on 16th April 2011, 5:52

    I wish Hamilton snatchs pole from Vettel. I’m sick of Vettel dominant races. Mercedes is impressive. All problem is not pure performance but setting failure? Force India’s improvment is coincidence?

    ReplyReport user

  7. Oliver said on 16th April 2011, 6:06

    When a driver can just go out and immediately set the fastest lap with a minim of effort, you just know that he isn’t even going at a hundred percent. He may just as well have a beer in hand as he sets very fast times.

    Ironically, I found it strange David Croft saying the Redbull wing nit flexing as much as last year, when at the very same moment, vettels front wing was shaving the hair off some ants on the race track. :-)

    Reply

  8. F1iLike said on 16th April 2011, 6:36

    They should start moving pole position according to how much faster than 2nd it is…

    Reply
  9. Avatar Image

    AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 16th April 2011, 6:56

    Well, that’s my pole time prediction out the window! Nevermind…

    Hope Sauber get a better result than this shows in the race.

    ReplyReport user
    • Avatar Image

      Doance (@doance) said on 16th April 2011, 7:10

      Whoops! I forgot to enter my pole time. Damn.

      ReplyReport user
    • Avatar Image

      Todfod (@todfod) said on 16th April 2011, 7:17

      Since they were consistently more than a second slower in FP sessions this year, I decided to keep the pole second in the low 1:35s, but looks like I’m way off as well. Looks like getting the pole sitter right is the only thing that is working for me in the prediction championship so far.

      ReplyReport user
  10. Avatar Image

    Calum (@calum) said on 16th April 2011, 8:22

    Vettel makes it three out of three in free practice 3 qualifying!

    ReplyReport user
  11. Avatar Image

    HounslowBusGarage (@hounslowbusgarage) said on 16th April 2011, 8:27

    Not sure I understand. The BBC says Webber is in 18th place (Jake Humphreys and separate interview with Webber), but he’s shown here as 15th.
    Did other drivers get penalties?

    ReplyReport user

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