Italian GP: Vettel on top in final practice

RichardsF1    F1 2011, Formula 1, Results    

Local fans hoping to witness something of a Ferrari resurgence on home soil might walk away from this entire weekend feeling disappointed, as Sebastian Vettel staked his claim for a thirteenth Red Bull pole position of the season by going quickest in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.

The German led a team 1-2 from Mark Webber, while Felipe Massa was able to lift spirits a little with the third-fastest time, although he was still half-a-second shy of Vettel’s ultimate pace in a qualifying simulation.

Next up were the McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, also showing that the silver cars have plenty of work to do if they want to challenge the Red Bull juggernaut, while the Mercedes GPs of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished the session sixth- and seventh-fastest.

Disappointingly, last year’s race winner Fernando Alonso was only eighth-fastest, no doubt leaving the tifosi hoping that the scarlet cars will be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat in qualifying later today.

The middle of the timesheets was a rather Noah’s Ark affair. The Force India pairing of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta rounded out the top-ten, followed by the Renaults of Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov. The Saubers were next up – Sergio Pérez ahead of Kamui Kobayashi once again.

The lower end of the midfield comprised the Williams’ and Toro Rosso entries, with Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado sandwiching Jaime Alguersuari and Sébastien Buemi.

The Team Lotus entries of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen predictably finished up 19th and 20th-quickest, while the back of the back saw the Virgin Racing and HRT outfits duking it out once again.

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2011 Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 Session Times:

	Driver		Team	Time	Laps
1.	Sebastian Vettel		Red Bull Renault RB7	1:23.170	18
2.	Mark Webber		Red Bull Renault RB7	+ 0.364	19
3.	Felipe Massa		Ferrari F150° Italia	+ 0.498	14
4.	Lewis Hamilton		McLaren Mercedes MP4-26	+ 0.571	17
5.	Jenson Button		McLaren Mercedes MP4-26	+ 0.617	16
6.	Nico Rosberg		Mercedes GP W02	+ 0.705	22
7.	Michael Schumacher		Mercedes GP W02	+ 0.944	20
8.	Fernando Alonso		Ferrari F150° Italia	+ 0.963	14
9.	Adrian Sutil		Force India Mercedes VJM04	+ 1.373	21
10.	Paul di Resta		Force India Mercedes VJM04	+ 1.411	22
11.	Bruno Senna		Renault R31	+ 1.683	20
12.	Vitaly Petrov		Renault R31	+ 1.719	19
13.	Sergio Pérez		Sauber Ferrari C30	+ 1.778	22
14.	Kamui Kobayashi		Sauber Ferrari C30	+ 2.091	21
15.	Rubens Barrichello		Williams Cosworth FW33	+ 2.149	19
16.	Jaime Alguersuari		Toro Rosso Ferrari STR6	+ 2.256	19
17.	Sébastien Buemi		Toro Rosso Ferrari STR6	+ 2.269	22
18.	Pastor Maldonado		Williams Cosworth FW33	+ 2.369	19
19.	Jarno Trulli		Lotus Renault T128	+ 4.158	19
20.	Heikki Kovalainen		Lotus Renault T128	+ 4.321	19
21.	Jérôme d’Ambrosio		Virgin Racing Cosworth MVR-02	+ 5.016	23
22.	Vitantonio Liuzzi		HRT F1 Cosworth F111	+ 5.271	22
23.	Timo Glock		Virgin Racing Cosworth MVR-02	+ 5.792	17
24.	Daniel Ricciardo		HRT F1 Cosworth F111	+ 7.146	16

[Image via GP Update]