Sebastian Vettel is eyeing pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix after finishing fastest in the final practice session.
Nico Rosberg pipped Lewis Hamilton to third place after the McLaren driver suffered a lurid spin at turn eight early in the session.
The session began badly for Mark Webber who lost throttle response and had to drive a very slow lap back to the pits with the engine idling – just as Karun Chandhok did yesterday.
Heikki Kovalainen was also in trouble, suffering more gearbox problems in the Lotus. And Adrian Sutil managed just one lap before pulling into the pits where his session ended.
Turn eight, which claimed several drivers yesterday, was the scene of drama again. Hamilton got a little too high on the kerb halfway around the corner and his McLaren snapped out of control.
The car stopped short of the barriers in a gravel trap with badly damaged tyres. Hamilton managed to drag the car out of the bed, around the rest of the lap and back into the pits. This was crucial, as it allowed him to get back out again before the end of the session.
Webber also managed to get back on track after his problems and took up second place a few hundredths of a second behind team mate Sebastian Vettel.
But turn eight claimed both the Red Bulls during the session as well – each driver ran wide there during their final effort on soft tyres.
Vettel finally put together a clean run to set the fastest time with a 1’27.086, setting the quickest time in both sectors.
Rosberg edged Hamilton for second by less than four hundredths of a second, suggesting a close battle in the upcoming qualifying session.
Practice three times
| Pos. | Car | Driver | Car | Best lap | Laps | |
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’27.086 | 18 | |
| 2 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’27.359 | 0.273 | 16 |
| 3 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’27.396 | 0.31 | 14 |
| 4 | 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’27.553 | 0.467 | 15 |
| 5 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1’27.784 | 0.698 | 20 |
| 6 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’27.861 | 0.775 | 18 |
| 7 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’27.879 | 0.793 | 16 |
| 8 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’27.963 | 0.877 | 17 |
| 9 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’27.969 | 0.883 | 20 |
| 10 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’28.344 | 1.258 | 18 |
| 11 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’28.610 | 1.524 | 22 |
| 12 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’28.652 | 1.566 | 21 |
| 13 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’28.734 | 1.648 | 21 |
| 14 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’29.036 | 1.95 | 20 |
| 15 | 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1’29.044 | 1.958 | 18 |
| 16 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1’29.211 | 2.125 | 15 |
| 17 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’29.305 | 2.219 | 14 |
| 18 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’30.618 | 3.532 | 19 |
| 19 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’30.884 | 3.798 | 22 |
| 20 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’31.341 | 4.255 | 21 |
| 21 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’32.180 | 5.094 | 16 |
| 22 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1’32.320 | 5.234 | 22 |
| 23 | 20 | Karun Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth | 1’32.762 | 5.676 | 19 |
| 24 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1 |
Combined practice times
| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Total laps |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’29.867 | 1’28.590 | 1’27.086 | 75 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’29.855 | 1’28.914 | 1’27.359 | 63 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’28.653 | 1’28.672 | 1’27.396 | 66 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’30.097 | 1’28.378 | 1’27.553 | 65 |
| 5 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1’30.061 | 1’29.225 | 1’27.784 | 77 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’30.294 | 1’28.725 | 1’27.861 | 68 |
| 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’29.750 | 1’28.974 | 1’27.879 | 62 |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’29.615 | 1’28.280 | 1’27.963 | 68 |
| 9 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’30.867 | 1’29.620 | 1’27.969 | 68 |
| 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’30.065 | 1’29.501 | 1’28.344 | 78 |
| 11 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’31.011 | 1’30.386 | 1’28.610 | 78 |
| 12 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’31.238 | 1’30.176 | 1’28.652 | 73 |
| 13 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’31.735 | 1’30.933 | 1’28.734 | 85 |
| 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’30.615 | 1’30.053 | 1’29.036 | 74 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1’31.355 | 1’29.987 | 1’29.044 | 58 |
| 16 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1’30.853 | 1’30.627 | 1’29.211 | 64 |
| 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’31.464 | 1’30.766 | 1’29.305 | 65 |
| 18 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’30.501 | 1’29.629 | 34 | |
| 19 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’32.990 | 1’33.081 | 1’30.618 | 53 |
| 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’32.161 | 1’31.610 | 1’30.884 | 83 |
| 21 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’35.583 | 1’33.312 | 1’31.341 | 65 |
| 22 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’35.137 | 1’33.013 | 1’32.180 | 65 |
| 23 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1’33.420 | 1’32.320 | 57 | |
| 24 | Karun Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth | 1’34.876 | 1’33.740 | 1’32.762 | 57 |
| 25 | Sakon Yamamoto | HRT-Cosworth | 1’36.137 | 26 |
2010 Turkish Grand Prix
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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...Read more about Keith Collantine, find all their articles and get in touch with them
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6 comments on “Vettel quickest in final practice”
Comments are closed.
glue
29th May 2010, 10:32
Saubers seem to be going well
Dr. Gonzo
29th May 2010, 10:43
“Rosberg edged Hamilton for second by one thousandths of a second”
37 actually, but still very tight!
Carlos Satos
29th May 2010, 10:52
Red Bull is running the f-duct today?
Dr. Gonzo
29th May 2010, 10:56
No, and they won’t tomorrow either.
Speed trap:
1 1 Jenson Button 11:57:17 314.3
2 2 Lewis Hamilton 11:26:20 313.1
3 17 Jaime Alguersuari 11:22:38 311.9
4 8 Fernando Alonso 11:41:58 311.8
5 7 Felipe Massa 11:28:18 311.6
6 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi 11:33:48 310.7
7 5 Sebastian Vettel 11:43:08 310.3
8 16 Sebastien Buemi 11:27:12 309.4
9 23 Kamui Kobayashi 11:24:33 309.1
10 11 Robert Kubica 11:43:54 308.9
11 6 Mark Webber 11:42:33 308.0
haha
29th May 2010, 11:01
A lot to come judging from the speed traps.
SeattleChris
29th May 2010, 11:19
Only if the can pick up the .300 difference in turn 8 that Red Bull currently maintain! I would be quite surprised if tomorrow is anything but an RB front row. I would also be surprised if anyone is within .100 of RB’s qualifying time.