Mark Webber set the pace in the final practice session ahead of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
With a late run on the softer tyre, the local driver became the first man to dip under the 1’25 bracket. He clocked a 1’24’’719 fastest lap time to end the session on top ahead of former World Champions Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher.
In the second Red Bull Racing car, Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest but unable to break the 1’25 barrier. The German was 0.4s slower than his Australian team mate but was faster than Nico Rosberg- once again beaten by Schumacher – and both McLaren Mercedes of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
Early pace-setter Felipe Massa was only ninth fastest, sandwiched between the Force Indias of Sutil and Liuzzi.
Robert Kubica was thirteenth fastest for Renault.
In the battle of the new teams, Lotus once again leads the way with Virgin and HRT following.
Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Renault | 1.24.719 | 16 | |
02 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1.24.929 | +0.210 | 19 |
03 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 1.24.963 | +0.244 | 17 |
04 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Renault | 1.25.122 | +0.403 | 19 |
05 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 1.25.356 | +0.647 | 16 |
06 | Jenson Button | McLaren Mercedes | 1.25.399 | +0.680 | 20 |
07 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren Mercedes | 1.25.505 | +0.786 | 14 |
08 | Adrian Sutil | Force India Mercedes | 1.25.525 | +0.806 | 18 |
09 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1.25.549 | +0.830 | 20 |
10 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India Mercedes | 1.25.782 | +1.063 | 19 |
11 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams Cosworth | 1.25.852 | +1.133 | 17 |
12 | Sébastien Buemi | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1.26.104 | +1.385 | 21 |
13 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1.26.184 | +1.465 | 21 |
14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber Ferrari | 1.26.275 | +1.556 | 21 |
15 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1.26.368 | +1.649 | 17 |
16 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1.26.661 | +1.942 | 19 |
17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams Cosworth | 1.26.804 | +2.085 | 19 |
18 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber Ferrari | 1.26.818 | +2.099 | 19 |
19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus Cosworth | 1.29.539 | +4.820 | 19 |
20 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus Cosworth | 1.29.800 | +5.081 | 16 |
21 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin Racing Cosworth | 1.30.800 | +6.081 | 18 |
22 | Timo Glock | Virgin Racing Cosworth | 1.31.114 | +6.395 | 12 |
23 | Karun Chandhok | HRT F1 Cosworth | 1.34.334 | +9.615 | 11 |
24 | Bruno Senna | HRT F1 Cosworth | 1.36.649 | +11.930 | 8 |