Red Bull showed their superiority this season once again as they left their opponents biting the dust at the final practice session in Barcelona at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel has taken pole position in three of the four qualifying rounds so far this season to take the lead. His teammate Mark Webber came in second, followed by the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and current World Champion Jenson Button.
Michael Schumacher improved his previous performances by finishing at the fifth position, ahead of his former teammate Felipe Massa.
Sebastian Vettel’s final lap of 20.528 seconds was 0.708 seconds faster then his teammate Webber, who had to cut his lap short, due to some technical problems.
The race stewards called up five drivers, including Vettel, as they posted their fastest laps while the yellow flags were out.
If found guilty, Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Jaime Alguersuari, Sebastian Buemi and Nico Hulkenberg canal be in for penalties for breach of rules.
The scintillating pace by the Red Bull team had caused a lot of concern to other teams. In the earlier rounds, the Australian team had the fastest time per lap, but the advancements made by the Red Bull team have pushed the competition to a newer level.
Red Bull have significantly upgraded their cars, resulting in major changes to the front and rear wings.
Current World Champion Jenson Button stated on Friday that Red bull would be hard to beat on the Barcelona circuit. Experts predict that his claim might turn into a reality, based on the evidence at hand from the practice sessions.
On Friday, Red Bull was faster by more then three quarters than any other car. With Red Bull almost assured to lead the qualifying rounds, it is interesting to see who follows them up, with tough competition between Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes.
Schumacher on the other hand looks to have the measure of his Partner Nico Rosberg for the first time in this season, after Mercedes made some changes to their car.
Rosberg ended up at seventh spot, followed by hometown favorite Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, Robert Kubica from Renault and Adrian Sutil from Force India.
Mercedes have tried to improve the pace of their cars by lengthening the wheelbase and improving the aerodynamics
Felipe Massa was not as fast as his team mate Fernando Alonso on Friday, but he was able to beat him by 0.342 seconds on Saturday morning.
The 2007 Champion, Fernando Alonso has been the closest to the Red bull team. Otherwise, very few have had the opportunity to challenge Red Bull's dominance in the qualifying sessions this season. However, Alonso was halted on the tracks by Force India’s Adrian Sutil, who's car stopped midway on the track, right when Alonso was setting up for his fist lap.
The qualifying round will be very important to who takes control to the much-anticipated Spanish Grand Prix. If practice sessions are anything to go by, Red bull are certainly going to take the pole position, while Alonso and Hamilton might be close in third or fourth, given that rain stays away.
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