Formula One Highlights: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Practice Session 3 - Vettel ruling the roost!
Hello and welcome to the highlights package of the final practice session of the season. The event being the Abu Dhabi GP, and McLaren seemed to have picked the pace in the 2nd practice session on Friday. Red Bull, rather unsurprisingly, continued
their rich stint of form and had shown some pace as well but both drivers still needed to match the pace of Hamilton's MP4-25. Alonso and Ferrari were in the mix as well and therefore, were not to be discounted that easy.
The session was underway. It is worth reminding our valued readers that the final practice session is a 60 minute affair; unlike the first two sessions which are usually an hour and a half long. All the drivers did their installation laps.
Things were still rather slow as drivers were vary not to make a mistake heading into the final race of the season. After nearly a quarter of the session was completed, di Grassi set the first timed lap of Saturday.
Half the session had passed. Top runners namely, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton were yet to set a time. With Red Bull and McLaren setting the pace in the first two features, it was interesting to wonder who would wind up as the final practice top of the
charts – Red Bull or McLaren?... or Ferrari..?... Or were we in store for another Kubica special; disrupting the top 3 constructors as he has done on numerous occasions this season.
Final 10 minutes of the stint remained – It was Red Bull vs McLaren Mercedes, still. However, it wasn’t much of a surprise moments later as Fernando Alonso got his Ferrari into the midst of the Red Bull – McLaren slots. The Spaniard was 4th fastest
at the time.
The session came to a close shortly aftwerwards.
Sebastian Vettel went fastest ahead of team mate Mark Webber. Lewis Hamilton set consistent lap times and was behind the Red Bull drivers in third. Alonso clocked the fourth quickest time as the title contenders occupied the first 4 slots heading into qualifying
on the same day.
Qualifying was set up nicely. With the cars so close to each other after a mere ‘free practice session’, it was plain that the drivers were fully determined to end the season on a high.
Sebastian Vettel’s fastest lap was timed 1 minute 40.696 seconds. Mark Webber was nearly a tenth behind with a 1 minute 40.829. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were close as well, despite not entering the 1 minute 40’s. However, unlike the three cars
that succeeded Vettel, the young German went around the track 18 times while Hamilton did a total of 13 laps and Alonso 14. While the determination of the Red Bull driver was considered to be next to no one, it still made sense to conserve the machinery.
Abu Dhabi was a 70 plus laps race and resting the engine was perhaps the most sensible option – Remember, no one wanted to end the season with a technical difficulty, nobody wanted to ‘walk’ off the Grand Prix before the chequred flag.
However, in all fairness to Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull had already secured the constructor’s title in the Brazilian Grand Prix a week back. With a 15 point gap between himself and first placed Fernando Alonso in the championships, it perhaps made sense to
go all out – Afterall, what did the youngster have to lose?
While the pace of the top runners was commendable, it was still a practice session and the cars classified 5th and above were still in the mix come qualifying – These included Jenson Button followed by Vitaly Petrov, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg,
Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld.
Who would start the final race of the season in pole?
Stay tuned for an exciting qualifying...
Tags: