Sebastian Vettel put himself in pole position to win Sunday’s Abu Dhabi GP, taking the coveted grid slot in an intense qualifying session.
The Red Bull racer, one of four drivers in with a chance of lifting the world championship on Sunday afternoon, crossed the line with a time of 1:39.394.
And although Lewis Hamilton came close to pipping Vettel, he ultimately fell 0.031s short.
Fernando Alonso will line up in third place, 0.398s off the pace, and has the advantage of having Jenson Button as a buffer between himself and his main rival for the title, Mark Webber.
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Formula 1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Race Line-Up
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in First Practice at Abu Dhabi
Formula 1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - First Practice Results
Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton Fastest in Second Practice at Abu Dhabi
Formula 1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Second Practice Results
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in Final Practice at Abu Dhabi
Formula 1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Final Practice Results
A scruffy qualifying in which Red Bull left it rather late saw Webber finish down in fifth place.
The top 10 is completed by Felipe Massa in his Ferrari, Williams’ Rubens Barrichello, the Mercedes duo of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, and finally Renault’s Petrov beating team-mate Robert Kubica for only the second time this season, with the Pole 11th ahead of Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi.. SkySports
Kamui Kobayashi improved late on but still didn’t make it beyond 12th on 1m 40.783s for BMW Sauber, ahead of Force India’s Adrian Sutil on 1m 40.914s, BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld on 1m 41.113s, Williams’ Nico Hulkenberg on 1m 41.418s, Tonio Liuzzi whose Force India didn’t look as good as it had on Friday on 1m 41.642s and Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari on 1m 41.738s.
As the sun began to set, Alonso headed Q1 with 1m 40.170s as Sebastien Buemi led those who failed to make the cut after lapping his Toro Rosso in 1m 41.824s. Behind him, Lotus took the new team honours with Jarno Trulli 19th on 1m 43.516s ahead of team mate Heikki Kovalainen on 1m 43.712s.
Timo Glock was close for Virgin but not close enough on 1m 44.095s, which put him ahead of team mate Lucas di Grassi who lapped in 1m 44.510s. Bruno Senna won the intra-team battle at HRT, with 1m 45.085s to Christian Klien’s 1m 45.296s. Formula1
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