Abu Dhabi GP P3: Williams struggle in final practice

The AT&T Williams drivers would finish the Abu Dhabi GP Friday practice in ninth and twelfth positions, with Nico Rosberg leading Kazuki Nakajima. Both drivers had improved during the course of the day and now it was Saturday and the teams final practice. With the start of the session Fisichella was out first joined by several drivers including Kazuki and Nico. Other drivers continued to flow out onto the track including both Toyota's, Hamilton, both Force India cars, Kovalainen, Webber, and Alonso. After their installation laps the drivers would pit including both Williams drivers.

The only drivers yet to come out were Alguersuari and Barrichello. Barrichello would come out with five minutes of the session completed running on the track by himself. He would pit seeing Alguersuari the only driver yet to come out. It was now all quite with ten minutes of the session run. Fisichella was first back out joined by Raikkonen. Buemi and Kazuki would join them, along with Grosjean. Other drivers including Sutil, Alonso, Nico, Trulli, Kobayashi, and Kovalainen were out on the track. Fisichella set a 1m:48.028 followed by a 1m:46.759 from Raikkonen. The track was now quite busy with both BMW's taking to the track. Barrichello was out running on the softer tyre. A 1m:46.553 from Fisichella and a 1m:45.378 from Raikkonen. Grosjean was second and Kazuki third, 1m:46.256.

Buemi was now third from Kazuki, Kovalainen, Fisichella, and Trulli. It was changing rapidly as Liuzzi moved into fourth. Alonso was sixth and Nico eleventh, 1m:51.954. A 1m:44.480 from Raikkonen as Heidfeld moved into second, 1m:45.162. Kovalainen would put in a quick lap going fastest with a 1m:43.046. Sutil was now second, 1m:44.177. Kazuki would have a moment running over the kerb while Alonso moved up to third, 1m:44.397. Grosjean would move ahead of his team-mate as Buemi moved up to second, 1m:43.745. Sutil was now third from Grosjean, Alonso, Raikkonen, Kubica, Trulli, and Kazuki. Kubica and Liuzzi would both improve with Kubica second and Liuzzi now third after being second.

Kobayashi was now fourth as Buemi moved to the top of the times with a 1m:42.871. Kazuki was down in ninth and Nico fourteenth. Button was in fifteenth followed by Barrichello. Kovalainen was now second from Raikkonen, Alonso, Kubica, and Kobayashi. Kazuki would improve to be sixth, 1m:43.482, but he was passed by Button who was on the softer tyre. Hamilton was now second, 1m:42.440, from Sutil and Kubica. Kazuki was now eleventh as other drivers improved in front of him. Nico was down in sixteenth. Kazuki had pitted as Button went fastest only to be passed by Hamilton with a 1m:41.270.
Hamilton was on the harder tyre but was 1.090 ahead of second placed Button.

Sutil would improve to be second, 1m:42.360, as Hamilton pitted. Kobayashi would improve from seventh to be fifth, 1m:42.455. Nico had pitted seeing Kazuki in fourteenth and Nico eighteenth. Alguersuari was still in his pit having suffered a hydraulic failure. Vettel would post a 1m:42.287 to now be in second. Team-mate Webber was up to seventh, 1m:42.631. Button was also able to find some time moving up to second with a 1m:42.094. Webber would take this spot with lap of 1m:42.022 seeing Vettel now third. Both Kazuki and Nico were back out on the track with both drivers way down the times. Kovalainen was now fourth, 1m:42.028, as more drivers returned to the track with twenty five minutes remaining in the session.

Vettel would improve to take second, 1m:41.403, to be just 0.133 behind Hamilton. Button was now fifth from Sutil, Buemi, Kobayashi, Kubica, and Raikkonen in tenth. Nico was able to improve with a 1m:43.137 to now be in twelfth. Kazuki was now in seventh, 1m:43.336. Nico was now running on the softer tyre as Raikkonen moved up to fifth, 1m:42.045. Hamilton was back out on the track as team- mate Kovalainen improved to be in third, 1m:41.915. Raikkonen would move ahead of the McLaren into third, 1m:41.849, while Kobayashi was now sixth. Nico was now tenth and Kazuki fifteenth. Hamilton would lower his quickest time with a 1m:41.026 while Kubica was now third from Buemi, Raikkonen, Kobayashi, Nico, Kovalainen, Webber, and Button in tenth.

Nico's lap was a 1m:41.891 while Kazuki was considerably slower with a 1m:42.694. Sutil was now seventh, 1m:41.748, as Nico pitted. Kobayashi was also able to find more time with a 1m:41.499 to now be in fourth. Buemi was now fastest with a 1m:40.934 from Hamilton and Sutil. Kazuki was also back in his pit with fourteen minutes left in the session. Button was back out this time on the harder tyre with ten minutes remaining. Vettel was out on the softer tyre as a large number of drivers were in their pits preparing for their practice qualifying runs. Nico would return to the track as the track again became busy. Only four drivers were in the pits, including Alguersuari who was yet to run. Buemi was still fastest from Hamilton, Sutil, Vettel, Kubica, Kobayashi, Raikkonen, Liuzzi, Nico, and Button in tenth.

Now only Barrichello and Alguersuari were still in their pits with five minutes left. The drivers were now out looking to get a feel of their cars for qualifying. Hamilton running on the softer tyre was on a quick lap going fastest in sectors one and two. Barrichello was now out on the track as Hamilton went fastest with a 1m:40.810. Trulli was now tenth, 1m:41.694 seeing Nico now eleventh. Kubica was now third, 1m:41.322 as the final minutes counted down. Sutil was now fourth as Nico improved to be seventh, 1m:41.478. But Button would put in a quick lap seeing him fastest with a 1m:40.625 running on the prime tyre. Buemi was now third from Heidfeld, Barrichello, Kubica, Sutil, Vettel, and Nico in tenth.

With the end of the session it would be Button fastest from Hamilton, Buemi, Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Barrichello, Trulli, Kubica, Sutil, and Raikkonen in tenth. It had all changed as drivers set their final times. Nico had dropped to twelfth and Kazuki was in a disappointing seventeenth. Not the result that the Williams team was hoping for as they prepare for qualifying.

Pos  Driver       Team			     Time     Laps
 1.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:40.625 21
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:40.627 18
 3.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:40.907 20
 4.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:40.934 22
 5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:41.241 18
 6.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:41.263 20
 7.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:41.310 23
 8.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:41.322 20
 9.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:41.372 22
10.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:41.373 23
11.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:41.403 19
12.  Rosberg       AT&T Williams-Toyota (B)  1:41.478 22
13.  Kobayashi     Toyota               (B)  1:41.499 24
14.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:41.675 20
15.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:41.682 15
16.  Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:41.897 19
17.  Nakajima      AT&T Williams-Toyota (B)  1:42.156 21
18.  Grosjean      Renault              (B)  1:42.213 19
19.  Fisichella    Ferrari              (B)  1:42.351 23