Vettel leads Schumacher in final practice in Istanbul

2011 Turkish GP third practice result

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Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, Istanbul, 2011

Sebastian Vettel bounced back from his problems yesterday to lead the final practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver set a fastest lap of 1’26.037. Despite being held up by Vitantonio Liuzzi at the end of his lap he was one thousandth of a second faster than Michael Schumacher.

But Vettel did not enjoy a completely trouble-free session as he was forced to pit with an overheating KERS at one point.

The second Red Bull of Mark Webber was third ahead of Nico Rosberg.

The McLaren pair were fifth and sixth, with Jenson Button ahead of Lewis Hamillton, neither faster than Button’s best time from yesterday.

Behind Vitaly Petrov in seventh was Fernando Alonso, who had another troubled session in his Ferrari. He drove slowly to the pits during the session with a loss of power.

Team mate Felipe Massa and Sebastien Buemi completed the top ten. Buemi’s team mate Jaime Alguersuari lost time early in the session after a spin at turn four, but was able to return to the track later on.

Pos. Car Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’26.037 17
2 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1’26.038 0.001 17
3 2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1’26.404 0.367 16
4 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’26.420 0.383 19
5 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’26.578 0.541 17
6 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1’26.726 0.689 14
7 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1’26.755 0.718 20
8 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’26.819 0.782 12
9 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1’26.883 0.846 12
10 18 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’27.080 1.043 16
11 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1’27.121 1.084 20
12 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1’27.255 1.218 18
13 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1’27.318 1.281 19
14 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1’27.379 1.342 17
15 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1’27.528 1.491 19
16 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1’27.644 1.607 18
17 19 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’27.724 1.687 15
18 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1’27.976 1.939 19
19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1’28.911 2.874 15
20 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1’29.697 3.660 17
21 25 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1’31.097 5.060 25
22 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1’31.175 5.138 19
23 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1’31.375 5.338 19
24 22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1’32.009 5.972 15

Combined practice times

Pos Driver Car FP1 FP2 FP3 Total laps
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’44.954 1’26.037 21
2 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1’40.132 1’27.063 1’26.038 56
3 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1’42.564 1’27.149 1’26.404 52
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’40.072 1’26.521 1’26.420 62
5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2’00.666 1’26.456 1’26.578 47
6 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1’27.033 1’26.726 46
7 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1’40.401 1’27.517 1’26.755 67
8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’38.670 1’28.069 1’26.819 52
9 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1’40.697 1’27.340 1’26.883 63
10 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’41.178 1’28.153 1’27.080 74
11 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1’55.791 1’27.844 1’27.121 65
12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1’42.597 1’28.828 1’27.255 44
13 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1’28.052 1’27.318 56
14 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1’40.338 1’28.475 1’27.379 61
15 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1’43.913 1’28.946 1’27.528 44
16 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1’43.525 1’27.725 1’27.644 66
17 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’28.765 1’27.724 47
18 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1’40.421 1’29.637 1’27.976 62
19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1’30.281 1’28.911 52
20 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1’43.986 1’29.409 1’29.697 62
21 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1’45.237 1’31.035 1’31.097 64
22 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1’45.183 1’31.221 1’31.175 56
23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1’48.461 1’31.320 1’32.009 52
24 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1’44.787 1’31.989 1’31.375 69
25 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’41.094 18
26 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’41.347 16
27 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1’51.676 6

2011 Turkish Grand Prix

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    43 comments on “Vettel leads Schumacher in final practice in Istanbul”

    1. Mercedes possibly fighting for the win this weekend?

      1. Looks like they could be fighting for a podium for sure. In FP3 they looked much stronger than both the Mclarens.. however, I do not know if the Mclarens set their times on the soft tyres.

        This FP3 session has definitely altered my race predictions drastically…

        1. I think the McLarens did not push too much. Didn’t see them out in the dying stages there.

          So Vettel for pole (some 1:24.7 I guess) but for the race its hard to tell, could be Webber, Vettel, Button, Hamilton and an shot mabye for Masssa or Rosberg?

      2. They look certainly on par with McLaren, possibly with Red Bull.

      3. 1/1000th is brilliant. But I guess it depends on just how much Vettel was held up by Liuzzi.

      4. Despite being a massive Schumacher fan, sadly, I don’t think it’s likely.

        I think Nico may, if lucky be able to scrape a podium, but to be honest I doubt they are ahead of Mclaren, let alone Red Bull.

    2. Paulipedia
      7th May 2011, 10:13

      2 seconds covering the top 18 runners. Although would have been a couple of 10ths more if Vettel hadn’t of been blocked

      1. It’ll make race-strategy even more important.

    3. I hope differences continue being this small. I was getting sick of Red Bull dominating so easily. I was starting to think this would be another boring season like the one Brawn won….

      1. Brawn won less than half the races that year. The season was boring because most of the races were boring.

        1. For Ferrari fans the whole season was boring though.

          My Italian neighbour stopped watching F1 because Ferrari wasn’t winning.

    4. gnvour (@)
      7th May 2011, 10:18

      Mercedes seem consistently fast in the free practice sessions, while Mc Larens seem to lost a bit of pace? I think the qualifying session might be the most interesting so far this season!

      1. gnvour (@)
        7th May 2011, 10:20

        *have lost…

    5. That headline takes me right back. It’s been a while since the notion of Schu right up the sharp end has been a reality, even if it is only practice.

      1. That is, in FP3 where they really have a shot at fast laps. I think he topped FP1 or 2 twice last year.

    6. Anyone believe McLaren are 7 tenths slower than Mercedes?

      Qualifying is going to be the same story. We could see a Merc challenging for the podium though,

      1. Agree with you.

        Mercedes looks ahead of Ferrari and Renault in the fight for a good points or a podium

        1. Yeah thats as far as I’d go, biggest hint being that McLaren wern’t as fast as they were yesterday. Macca vs RBR in the race and qualifying.

      2. Keeping fresh tyres for the race is what F1 is about as China demonstrated.

        This might have an impact already in FP3.

    7. Kobayashi looking awfully slow :(

      1. I noticed that. However, it’s only practise. I’m guessing they would want Perez out on simulation runs to get suited to Istanbul Park in the C31.

    8. Things for Ferrari are just getting worse by the day. This weekend has disaster written all over it for Alonso.

      1. Their race pace seemed good yesterday, so I think they can make good progress in the race with the right strategy.

      2. It’s looking like it. I had been so optimistic in the lead up to this gp…

        Hard not to feel disheartened now. But who knows, anything could happen come race time.

        Still, I have a feeling this isn’t going to be Ferrari’s year.

        1. completely agree. Very different situation from last year where they weren’t the quickest car on the grid, but always had the potential to take podiums and pick up wins when RB weren’t on the ball. Most of their poor performances were down to just bad luck last year and occasional driver errors. This year they just don’t have the potential, and I dont see any amount of good luck or driver brilliance changing the situation.

          I guess I shouldn’t make the mistake of writing them off as yet.. but instinct tells me that their championship hopes are already over.

      3. Don’t be disheartened yet, Ferrari have shown how much pace they have in the race before. With DRS, KERS and Alonso’s talent, I don’t think it is unlikely that he can’t pull something off.

        1. It’s not unlikely, but I’m thinking it would be nothing short of a miracle on both his and the team’s part (they’d need to get strategy AND their pitstops in order, firstly) and with three teams now faster than Ferrari…

          Still, he’s pulled things out of his hat before. And Massa seems to have improved from last season. I guess it’s too early to be writing them off :) Looking forward to quali.

    9. Let’s not forget Vettel’s lap was compromised by an HRT in the final sector. He was up by about 3 tenths after S2, while at the end he only took P1 by 0.001 seconds.

    10. Brilliant stuff from Mercedes both today and yesterday. Hope they have managed to turn a corner. I’m sure if McLaren or Ferrari wanted to beat their times they would have already done it by now.

      Williams have stretched out to a more comfortable 1.5s from Lotus.

    11. Lotus are in no mans land. Heikki a good second off the next best car, and more than 2 clear of the fastest Virgin. This, I hope, would be their last no-man’s-land race/qualifying as they’ve got this real big update slated for Catalunya.

    12. Ferrari are going to change Massa’s engine before qualifying. No penalty for that, of course. And Alonso’s will get a “careful check”.

    13. d1sciple (@)
      7th May 2011, 10:54

      McLaren are clearly sandbagging. They were at almost identical times as yesterday. Watch for them and Red Bull to be challenging for the pole with Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault just behind.

    14. How can a 42 years oldman (for F1…) get such lap as Schumcaher did?!

      1. I don’t think his age is that big a deal.

    15. Is Virgin still having problem tuning Glock’s upgraded car? He’s not even faster than d’Ambrosio, let alone catching the Lotuses!

      1. Yeah, it’s a bit of a puzzle, that one.

      2. I think D’Ambrosio has shown that he can match Glock. It comes as no surprise to me..

        1. Perhaps D’Ambrosio is a bit underated. One could also look at it from the angle that the updates actually made Glock’s car slower. But whatever the truth is, I have a feeling Glock not feeling motivated at the moment.

          1. Only way to know for sure is to see what happens once they both have been running the update for a couple of races…

            A bit of a pity to see Glock so demotivated — at least he’s not blaming his power steering!

    16. Is that the true pace of Mercedes? Well I will gamble & have Schumacher in the top 5 of my prediction championship.

    17. Who will be brave enough to stay in the garage in Q3?

      1. What and not do a time at all? No chance.

    18. So what has changed? Vettel/Redbull still consistently over 6 tenths faster than the next car.
      A stronger Mercedes can only help Redbull secure a championship, they will only steal points off Mclaren.
      Nothing seperating HRT and Virgin. In my opinion, HRT are still suffering from a lac of testing. They are yet to refine the mechanical setup of their cars.
      It would also appear that Ferrari have a fast but inconsistent car.

    Comments are closed.