Formula 1: Brazilian Grand Prix – Practice Session 3 - Renault's Robert Kubica Takes Lead
The Friday practice sessions set the pace for the entire race weekend. Both periods were dominated by Red Bull with conditions conducive to good ol’ racing! However, with the weather changing overnight, it was a completely different
ball game on Saturday.
Bettor.com welcomes you back, our loyal readers, to the third and final practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Since the session in question was potentially going to mimic the track conditions for qualifying afterwards,
it was a touch more important than the first two practice periods.
The final practice session got underway as light rain continued to fall. The temperature was 21 degree centigrade; the track was damp with an overcast forecast for the day.
All the drivers completed their respective installation laps. It should be reminded that the final practice session is a 60 minute affair; unlike the first two periods which are 90 minutes each. It appeared that the McLaren camp
was gambling with a wet setup to gain grid position.
However, owing to the tricky conditions, the top end teams were a touch cautious to go full blast early in the session. The top five championship contenders were yet to set a time with Nico Hulkenberg heading the timesheets for
the time being.
With the passage of time, the big guns decided to up the tempo. It appeared that the Ferraris were thriving in the aforesaid conditions. Felipe Massa led his teammate Fernando Alonso at the top of the time sheet. The McLaren of
Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel followed suit.
Hamilton’s McLaren was reputed to be on a high down-force setup, which seemed to hamper the car’s straight line speed.
However, it didn’t take long for the Red Bulls to remind everyone of their dominance in the first two sessions. A fired up Sebastian Vettel moved on top of the timesheets with a little less than 20 minutes remaining in the session.
Robert Kubica, from nowhere, took the fastest time and subsequently headed the timesheets with his late run as he edged past Sebastian Vettel, who had to settle for second followed by Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.
The final practice session finally drew to a close with the top 5 positions unchanged. Vitaly Petrov finished 6th followed by Sebastien Buemi for Toro Rosso in 7th. Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello
rounded off the top 10.
After a rather surprising, to say the very least, final practice session, qualifying was bound to be interesting if rains continued to fall. However, taking into account the raw speed of the Red Bulls, and Sebastian Vettel’s track
record in qualifying this season, it will be a tough task to stop the young German from taking his tenth pole position of the season. The German has been outstanding so far this weekend.
Join us again for qualifying. Stay tuned...
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