Fernando Alonso was fastest in the final practice session, ahead of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Spaniard made the most of a low-fuel run, late in the session, to top the time sheets by over two tenths of a second.
Behind Alonso was Nico Rosberg, who once again outpaced his illustrious team-mate Michael Schumacher. Rosberg’s time may also prove to be significant ahead of qualifying, with the German faster than the Ferrari in two of the three sectors.
Mark Webber was third, with his team-mate Sebastian Vettel fifth, as both Red Bull drivers set the most laps of the session, in a bid to make up the time lost yesterday.
The session did not run without incident as Timo Glock’s Virgin shed his left-front wheel while attempting to set a quick lap. Scenes of Hungary 2009 came flooding back, as the loose wheel bounced down the circuit, forcing two drivers to take avoiding action.
Lewis Hamilton also suffered a tough final practice, with the 2008 champion forced to sacrifice a qualifying simulation after a problem with his McLaren’s front left brake duct.
Although Bruno Senna continued to rack up more laps in his untested HRT car, team-mate Karun Chandhok did not take part in the session. Although the Indian driver’s mechanics worked frantically at the rear of the car, they could not fix a hydraulics issue within the hour.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Ferrari 1:54.099 14 2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:54.368 + 0.269 13 3. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:54.500 + 0.401 15 4. Schumacher Mercedes 1:54.533 + 0.434 13 5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:54.646 + 0.547 16 6. Massa Ferrari 1:54.739 + 0.640 14 7. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.000 + 0.901 14 8. Kubica Renault 1:55.331 + 1.232 15 9. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:55.432 + 1.333 11 10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:55.461 + 1.362 13 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:55.521 + 1.422 13 12. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.860 + 1.761 8 13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.063 + 1.964 14 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:56.259 + 2.160 15 15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:56.295 + 2.196 17 16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:56.504 + 2.405 16 17. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.530 + 2.431 13 18. Petrov Renault 1:56.811 + 2.712 16 19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:59.173 + 5.074 10 20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:59.789 + 5.690 15 21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2:01.259 + 7.160 5 22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:04.001 + 9.902 11 23. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2 24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth
With the top seven separated by less than a second, qualifying for the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix will be as unpredictable as ever.
