Formula One Highlights: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Practice Session 1 – Sebastian Vettel sets the pace
Bettor.com welcomes you to round nineteen and the final race weekend of the 2010 Formula One World Championship! The event is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the highlights of the first practice session at Yas Marina await.
Four drivers remain in contention for the championship. Fernando Alonso needs a second place finish to clinch his third title irrespective of where his rivals finish. However, the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber seem to be the strongest candidates
after a 1-2 finish in Brazil, and have the momentum. Lewis Hamilton has a very slim chance at the title and will need the German to finish third or below with Webber sixth or below and Alonso scoring no points.
The first practice for the final race weekend for this season was officially underway as drivers headed out to conduct their installation laps.
Fauzy replaced Kovalainen for the session at Lotus and was the only change in the driver line up for the period. Klien and Senna were going to be the drivers for HRT in the final race. It was safe to assume, that the Abu Dhabi chapter, being the final outing
of the season, had the futures of many drivers depending on it. Which is why there was so much pressure of their performances this race weekend.
All drivers did their installation laps. However, no times were set in the first 30 of the 90 minute session. It had rained in the morning; however, the track was drying up. Perhaps that was the reason behind the general hesitency – Drivers wanted to ensure
that the track lost moisture before going full blast. Besides, since a lot rested at stake on the day, no one really wanted to throw it all away too soon. The remaining weekend is expected to be bone dry though, meaning that we could actually expect full throttle
racing this Sunday.
More than half the session had gone by. The track was still damp and no times were set. Shortly after though, cars finally started doing their first timed laps.
With 30 minutes remaining, the scarlet brigade featuring Fernando Alonso was on top of the charts. However, it wasn’t long till the already crowned constructor’s champions for 2010 made their mark – Yet another Red Bull 1 - 2 for the time being, unsurprisingly!
15 minutes remained. Red Bull maintained its position with Webber ahead of his teammate. Klien was faster then Senna at the back – Good for Klien’s resume come recruitment in 2011, worrying for the Brazilian HRT driver?
The McLarens were posing a challenge at this circuit – Challenging the might of the Red Bulls as both McLaren drivers were able to split the two Renault powered cars at the top.
The session came to a close.
As things stood:
Sebastian Vettel topped the first practice but the McLarens were right behind him with Hamilton ahead of his teammate. Webber sandwiched the McLaren and was ahead of the Renualt of Robert Kubica. The final contender, Alonso, was in 6th. Michael Schumacher
finished ahead of Rosberg and both the Saubers made it into the top 10
The young Red Bull driver has been rather 'active' in the past couple of races. While the top 2 championship contenders namely Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber have been rather cautious with their approach, Vettel has proved to be a player that has literally
gone for it and has proved rather successful. However, on the flip side, using a mere Practice Session as yardstick to evaluate potential performance for the race seems rather naive. As far as the Red Bull driver is concerned, he needs to end the season on
a high and prove to those that refer to him as the 'crashkid', know that he has what it takes to be able to convert good starts into championship points with a responsible race to follow up.
Stay tuned...
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