Kubica quickest in final practice in Korea

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Robert Kubica set the fastest lap of the weekend so far ahead of qualifying for the Korean Grand Prix.

The top four teams ended the session separated by less than a tenth of a second as Kubica headed Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.

The drivers found the track very slippery once again at the beginning of the session following overnight work to address several problem areas.

A new kerb at turn 16 proved particularly tricky as the concrete had not fully set. Drivers reported it felt soft when the ran over it during the session.

Once again several drivers ran off the track during practice as the tricky surface continued to catch them out. Sebastian Vettel had a sideways moment late in the session and ended up 16th.

Traffic also proved a problem in the twisty final second of the lap. Fernando Alonso was held up by Nico Rosberg and gesticulated angrily at the Mercedes driver.

Alonso had been very quick early in the session on hard tyres. Then the McLaren duo took over at the top of the times sheets.

With the track improving with every passing lap two late efforts from Kubica lowered the fastest time of the weekend to a new best of 1’37.354.

But with little to choose between the front runners the forthcoming qualifying session looks difficult to predict.

Pos.CarDriverCarBest lapGapLaps
111Robert KubicaRenault1’37.35415
22Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’37.4020.04816
38Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’37.4260.07215
46Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’37.4410.08713
54Nico RosbergMercedes1’37.6290.27512
67Felipe MassaFerrari1’37.9550.60116
71Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’38.4191.06515
810Nico HulkenbergWilliams-Cosworth1’38.5011.14717
93Michael SchumacherMercedes1’38.6301.27612
1014Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’38.6321.27818
1112Vitaly PetrovRenault1’38.6681.31414
129Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’38.7331.37916
1316Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’39.0581.70421
1423Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’39.1451.79116
1517Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’39.1591.80521
165Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’39.7802.4269
1722Nick HeidfeldSauber-Ferrari1’40.2892.93517
1815Vitantonio LiuzziForce India-Mercedes1’41.5914.23715
1918Jarno TrulliLotus-Cosworth1’41.6234.26915
2024Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’41.8534.49917
2119Heikki KovalainenLotus-Cosworth1’42.0954.74119
2225Lucas di GrassiVirgin-Cosworth1’43.1115.75719
2321Bruno SennaHRT-Cosworth1’43.4176.06319
2420Sakon YamamotoHRT-Cosworth1’43.8806.52620

Ultimate laps

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

Pos.CarDriverCarUltimate lapGapDeficit to best
111Robert KubicaRenault1’37.3510.003
22Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’37.4020.0510.000
38Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’37.4260.0750.000
46Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’37.4410.0900.000
54Nico RosbergMercedes1’37.6290.2780.000
65Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’37.9390.5881.841
77Felipe MassaFerrari1’37.9550.6040.000
81Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’38.3601.0090.059
912Vitaly PetrovRenault1’38.3681.0170.300
1010Nico HulkenbergWilliams-Cosworth1’38.5011.1500.000
1114Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’38.5611.2100.071
123Michael SchumacherMercedes1’38.6301.2790.000
139Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’38.7331.3820.000
1417Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’38.8241.4730.000
1516Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’38.9041.5530.154
1623Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’39.1451.7940.000
1722Nick HeidfeldSauber-Ferrari1’39.9382.5870.351
1815Vitantonio LiuzziForce India-Mercedes1’41.4874.1360.104
1924Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’41.8534.5020.000
2019Heikki KovalainenLotus-Cosworth1’42.0954.7440.000
2121Bruno SennaHRT-Cosworth1’43.0905.7390.327
2225Lucas di GrassiVirgin-Cosworth1’43.1115.7600.000
2318Jarno TrulliLotus-Cosworth1’43.3445.993-1.721*
2420Sakon YamamotoHRT-Cosworth1’43.4586.1070.422

*The combined sector times supplied by F1.com give Trulli a higher lap time than his actual lap time, indicating an error in the data.

Korea practice times combined

PosDriverCarFP1FP2FP3Total laps
1Robert KubicaRenault1’40.9681’38.7181’37.35462
2Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’40.8871’38.2791’37.40260
3Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’43.9281’38.1321’37.42666
4Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’42.2021’37.9421’37.44159
5Nico RosbergMercedes1’41.1521’39.2681’37.62962
6Felipe MassaFerrari1’43.0541’38.8201’37.95573
7Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’41.9401’38.7261’38.41950
8Nico HulkenbergWilliams-Cosworth1’42.6781’40.4781’38.50168
9Michael SchumacherMercedes1’42.0221’39.5981’38.63063
10Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’43.6021’39.9711’38.63258
11Vitaly PetrovRenault1’42.8961’39.2671’38.66864
12Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’42.8831’39.8121’38.73374
13Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’43.9401’40.8961’39.05876
14Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’43.3091’39.5641’39.14562
15Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’45.1411’40.5781’39.15976
16Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’41.3711’39.2041’39.78049
17Nick HeidfeldSauber-Ferrari1’42.2931’39.5881’40.28960
18Vitantonio LiuzziForce India-Mercedes1’44.8871’39.8811’41.59163
19Jarno TrulliLotus-Cosworth1’51.7011’42.8011’41.62345
20Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’45.5881’43.1151’41.85363
21Heikki KovalainenLotus-Cosworth1’47.1151’42.7731’42.09570
22Lucas di GrassiVirgin-Cosworth1’44.0391’43.11148
23Bruno SennaHRT-Cosworth1’50.8211’46.6491’43.41737
24Sakon YamamotoHRT-Cosworth1’50.3471’45.1661’43.88068
25Jerome d’AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth1’46.61317

2010 Korean Grand Prix

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    14 comments on “Kubica quickest in final practice in Korea”

    1. Vettel doesn’t seem comfortable on this track. You could argue he went out at the wrong time at the end, like Jenson Button did, but overall he doesn’t seem as competitive as his teammate.

      Qualifying will be tight. Looking at today’s session I think Hamilton will get it. He was 4 thousandths of a second down on Kubica and that was after going really wide on the last corner. If he gets a perfect lap in I think he’ll be on pole and with possible rain on race day plus the speed of the car, I don’t think RBR will have much of a chance. Lewis’ biggest threats are his teammate, Kubica and Alonso.

      Then again, I’m probably dead wrong.

    2. Quite sensational how Kubica cut the time by 0.5 sec. Twice

    3. 4 different teams on top 4 spots within a tenth of a second… looks good for the qualifying.

    4. Well done Robert

    5. KUBICA!!!! Willing that car…

    6. That’s quite a lot of spinning so far then.. Not great from a driver safety point of view but will reward the brave (I’ll put kobayashi top 6 tomorrow for a cheeky punt).

    7. Schumi’s 1’38.630 vs. Rosberg’s 1’37.629 doesn’t look good at all. 1.001 is a bit too much.
      In P2 they were # Nico P9 1:39.268, Michael P12 1:39.598.

      Can’t wait for the classification session.

    8. Vettel’s top speed was around Hamilton’s top speed, while Webber was much slower. Maybe Vettel has decided to sacrifice some downforce for better straight line speed. He’ll be slower overall, but will be better at the start of the race, which will be very important.

      1. Or he might just have got a really good tow on one lap…

        1. True. But he might just qualify two places behind Webber and get in front at the start. I hope not though.

    9. Vettels best lap might suffer from that sideways moment? Or was it on the same tires? I didn’t watch.. Anyways I don’t think the Red Bulls look very good for this track.. But earlier this year they have been down in all practices and then on top in qualifying so I don’t know really..
      Renault have often looked strong in FP but can’t materialise that into qualifying and race. And Mclaren always looks strong in FP.. But this maybe isn’t a Red Bull track.. Should be an interesting race though!

      1. Also, Vettel’s best 3rd sector time is 0,5 off Webber’s.. That’s unheard of.. So I think he’ll come around!

    10. Funny how big difference is between Vettel’s fastest and ultimate lap

      1. I think that probably shows that he never got a hot lap in due to traffic there at the end of the session.

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