Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying: Rosberg finishes in ninth

After seeing their drivers finish outside the top ten after the final practice session for the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix there was now a large degree of uncertainty as to whether either driver will be able to make it into the final period of qualifying, let alone the second. Conditions at the Yas Marina circuit were hot and dry but it should be remembered that the session would start with the sun setting and ending in darkness under lights. As far as tyres were concerned the medium tyre was proving to be the better choice during practice but with the cooler conditions in the session the softer tyre could be the preferred choice.

With the start of the twenty minute Q1 Alguersuari would be first put followed by Nico. There would be a rush of drivers including Kazuki. With three minutes run only Hamilton and the Red Bull cars were still in their pits. The times would be coming fast as everyone was out to set a time. Alguersuari set a time of 1m:46.161 followed by Nico with a 1m:47.343. Grosjean would go fastest with a 1m:44.951 as Nico ran wide at Turn eight running on the softer tyre. Raikkonen was second from Button, and Trulli. Heidfeld was now fastest as Hamilton came out. Sutil was second but Alguersuari would take this spot. Nico would improve to be fastest, 1m:42.956, but Kubica would move ahead with a 1m:42.165.

Raikkonen was now second as Button went fastest with a 1m:41.916. Trulli was second from Barrichello, Kubica, Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Liuzzi, Heidfeld, Kobayashi, Kazuki, and Nico . Nico would improve to be sixth, 1m:42.401, while Kubica went fastest with a time of 1m:41.584. Raikkonen was now second from Raikkonen, Button, Trulli, Barrichello, Kazuki, Kovalainen, and Nico in eighth. Trulli would find some time to be second but this would become third as Hamilton went fastest with a 1m:41.037. Hamilton was on the harder tyre while Nico had pitted. Both Red Bull's were now on the track with ten minutes remaining. Raikkonen had moved into third with a 1m:41.206 while Alonso was in sixth.

Kazuki was also in the pits currently in ninth with Nico in thirteenth. Alguersuari was in sixth, 1m:41.973, but team-mate Buemi would move up to fifth seeing Alguersuari in seventh. Webber's first lap would see him only in fourteenth running on the softer tyre. Hamilton would improve with a 1m:40.365 from Raikkonen, Kubica, Trulli, Buemi, Button, Alguersuari, Alonso, and Barrichello. Webber would improve to be seventh as Hamilton put in a stunning lap to go even faster with a 1m:39.873. Raikkonen was on the softer tyre as we had everyone out on the track. Vettel was now third, 1m:41.425, while Kazuki and Nico were in thirteenth and sixteenth.

Nico was in the drop zone and not looking good to find the time necessary. Vettel was now second while Hamilton had pitted. Kovalainen was up to fifth while Kubica moved into second, 1m:40.936. Nico would find a big chunk of time and would move from sixteenth to fourth, 1m:41.144. But other drivers would improve with Heidfeld now second from Kubica, Vettel, Trulli, Button, Nico, and Barrichello. Kazuki was now fifteenth but was on a better lap as the session came to a close. Webber would jump up to second but Vettel would move ahead but it would be Heidfeld who was now second, 1m:40.558. Kazuki had improved to be twelfth but Kobayashi would move ahead. Kazuki was now thirteenth as we now had Nico in eleventh and Kazuki thirteenth.

Hamilton was still fastest from Kubica, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Vettel, Webber, Buemi, Trulli, Raikkonen, and Button in tenth. Both Button and Trulli would improve seeing Button second from Trulli. Nico and Kazuki would finish in tenth and thirteenth. So the top ten was Hamilton from Button, Trulli, Kubica, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Vettel, Webber, Kovalainen, and Nico. Those not making the cut were Alonso, Liuzzi, Sutil, Grosjean, and Fisichella.

It was pleasing to see both Williams drivers make it through Q1 it was going to be far more difficult to get into Q3. The second fifteen minute period would commence with Kovalainen first out as the circuit got darker and the lights started to take over. Buemi was next out followed by Hamilton. It was going to be very difficult for anyone to beat Hamilton given his Q1 performance. Webber was also out on the track while Kovalainen, running on the softer tyre, would start his timed lap. More rivers were coming out including Raikkonen, Vettel, and Barrichello. Kovalainen's time was a 1m:40.983 with Buemi second, 1m:41.632.

Both Toyota's and Brawn cars were out on the track as Hamilton went third with a 1m:45.579. Hamilton's next lap would see him putting in a quick lap as Webber moved into second, 1m:41.224. Buemi was now fastest with a 1m:40.678 while Hamilton had gone fastest in the opening two sectors. Kovalainen would pit taking on the medium tyre. Both Williams drivers were out on the track as Hamilton went fastest with a 1m:40.542. Buemi was second from Kovalainen, Webber, Vettel, Barrichello, and Raikkonen. Buemi would pit while Heidfeld would move into fifth, 1m:41.454. Neither Williams driver had set a time with six minutes left in the period.

Kubica was up to fourth from Webber, and Heidfeld. Kovalainen would stop at the side of the track seeing the marshals push him into a safe position. His qualifying was over while for Williams Nico was slowest with a 1m:56.041 and Kazuki eleventh, 1m:43.247. Nico would improve with a 1m:43.713 but this would only see him improve to fourteenth. Webber was now fastest with a 1m:40.357 while it was reported that Kovalainen had a gearbox problem. Vettel was now fastest with a 1m:40.324 from Webber and Hamilton. Kazuki was now twelfth and Nico thirteenth. Webber would improve to move ahead of Vettel with a 1m:40.272.

Both Kazuki and Nico were on improved laps but would it be enough to make it into Q3. Button was now fastest with a 1m:40.201 but Vettel would again find some time with a 1m:39.984. But Hamilton would move ahead with a 1m:39.695 The period would come to an end with Hamilton fastest from Vettel, Button, Webber, Trulli, Barrichello, Buemi, Heidfeld, and Raikkonen. But in his last lap Nico would set the tenth fastest time with a 1m:40.661. Kazuki was down in fourteenth not having improved his time after making a mistake that would see him run wide.

Those not making the cut were Raikkonen, Kobayashi, Kovalainen, Kazuki, and Alguersuari. The final top ten was Hamilton from Vettel, Button, Webber, Trulli, Barrichello, Buemi, Kubica, Heidfeld and Nico.

With Nico been able to make it into the ten minute Q3 it would be surprising to see Nico near the front as the team may decide to run Nico heavier than the rest of the top ten. The circuit was now fully under lights as nine drivers took to the track with Hamilton still in his pit. Buemi would set the first time with a 1m:46.967 with Kubica second from Webber. Heidfeld was now fastest with a 1m:44.563 as Vettel moved into second, 1m:46.058. Trulli was now third from Buemi, Kubica, Barrichello, Webber, Button, Nico, and Hamilton yet to set a time even though he was now out on the track.

Kubica was now fastest with a 1m:42.573 but Webber would take this spot with a 1m:42.421. Barrichello was now second but this became third as Button went fastest with a 1m:42.366. Trulli would move ahead of Button with a 1m:42.318 as Hamilton ran wide at Turn seventeen. Nico was ninth with a 1m:44.499. Kubica was up to seventeenth but Barrichello would move to the top of the times with a 1m:41.952. Hamilton was able to recover and move to the top of the times with a 1m:41.773 to go fastest. Barrichello was now second from Trulli, Kubica, Button, Webber, Vettel, Buemi, Heidfeld, and Nico in tenth. Nico would set a 1m:42.964 to now be ninth with the end of the period.

Trulli was now second, 1m:41.897, as Webber on his last lap would move to the top of the times with a 1m:41.726. But Vettel would take this spot with a 1m:41.615 but Hamilton would set the quickest time with a 1m:40.948. This was more than half a second ahead of Vettel. Webber was third from Barrichello, Button, Trulli, Kubica, Heidfeld, Nico, and Buemi tenth. Nico was 1.6 seconds off Hamilton's pace but was most likely running a heavier car. All the drivers had chosen the medium tyre for the final period seeing no one pit during the period as it took several laps to get the best out of the tyre.

For the Williams team Sunday's race will see their drivers starting from ninth and fourteenth. Their prospects for the race as not looking great with the chances of scoring points in the final race of 2009 coming down to strategy and a big piece of luck. For Kazuki this will be his last opportunity to see if he can come away with a points scoring finish.