European GP: Barrichello sets excellent sixth in FP3

Friday practice would see the AT&T Williams drivers finish in tenth and seventeenth positions with Rubens Barrichello ahead of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg by a considerable margin. Hopefully Nico will be able to find some pace in the final practice session. The session would get underway with a rush of drivers coming out onto the circuit. Both Williams drivers would come out early as drivers started to pit after their installation lap. Nico would pit as Glock coasted around the circuit with what must be a problem with his car. Rubens had also pitted while, with five minutes run, the McLaren's were last to come out. Last to pit was Hamilton leaving the track empty.

Di Grassi would be the first driver to return to the circuit and would start his first flying lap. He would be joined by Alguersuari , Kovalainen, Chandhok, Petrov, Trulli, and Buemi. Di Grassi set a 1m:43.867. Rubens would leave the pit lane followed shortly after by Nico. Hamilton was also out on the track as Di Grassi improved with a 1m:43.195. Button would also come out as Alguersuari was on a quick lap. Trulli would set a 1m:43.114 but was passed by Alguersuari with a time of 1m:40.623. Kovalainen was now second, 1m:42.567, as more drivers took to the circuit. Buemi was now fastest with a 1m:40.230, while Rubens moved into third with a 1m:41.189. This would become fourth as Nico went fastest with a 1m:40.196.

There were now only a handful of drivers till in the pits including Alonso and Webber. Buemi was again fastest with a 1m:39.856 seeing Nico second with Petrov now third. Rubens had dropped to be fifth, 1m:41.189. Kubica would take to the run-off area at Turn two, while Hamilton who was in twelfth was on a quick lap to move to the top of the times with a 1m:39.338. Sutil was now second from Buemi while Nico had pitted from fourth. Rubens had dropped to ninth with twenty five minutes of the session completed. But Rubens was able to find extra time with a 1m:39.636 to move up to third. Button was in fourth from Buemi, Schumacher, and Nico now seventh. Rubens time was set on the harder tyre which was encouraging.

Neither of the Ferrari's had set a time along with the Red Bull's. Kubica was now fastest with a 1m:39.123. Rosberg would slot into third but this became fourth as Sutil went fastest with a 1m:39.066. Rubens had pitted and was currently in fifth. Nico had dropped to eleventh and was still in the pits. Vettel was out on the track and would move into ninth, 1m:39.911, but was on a quicker lap and would move to the top of the times with a 1m:38.884. Sutil was now second from Kubica, Hamilton, Rosberg, Button, Rubens, Buemi, Liuzzi, and Kobayashi in tenth. On his first lap Alonso would move up to fourth, 1m:39.187, while Nico had returned to the track. Sutil would improve but remained in second while Nico was down in fourteenth. Alonso was on an improved lap moving up to second, 1m:38.970.

Vettel was still fastest from Alonso and Sutil. Schumacher would find time to move up to seventh one place behind Rosberg. Rubens had dropped to tenth while Massa moved up to seventh, 1m:39.374. Vettel was fastest in the first sector but Alonso went faster. Webber was down in tenth while Nico had moved up to eleventh, 1m:39.591. On his next lap Webber would improve to go second, 1m:38.802, while Vettel had improved with a 1m:38.727. Rosberg was now third but Alonso would again move to the top of the times with a 1m:38.713. Nico was on a better lap setting a time of 1m:39.483 to move
up to ninth. Rubens was back out on the track currently in twelfth. Vettel and Rosberg would both pit as Webber went fastest in sector one and two. He would lose time in the last sector to set a 1m:38.720 to remain second, just 0.007 behind Alonso. Alonso had found a few tenths setting a 1m:38.513 to remain fastest.

Webber would pit with twenty minutes remaining. The order was Alonso from Webber, Vettel, Rosberg, Massa, Sutil, Kubica, Hamilton, Buemi, and Alguersuari in tenth. Nico was now in eleventh, 1m:39.483, and Rubens thirteenth. Nico had pitted while Rubens was back out while Kubica was on a faster lap moving into second with a 1m:38.564, been fastest in the final two sectors. Rubens had pitted while Button would improve to be eighth. As a result Nico and Rubens were in twelfth and fourteenth. Hamilton was on an improved lap setting a 1m:39.008 but remained seventh. With under fifteen minutes left in the session most of the drivers would return to the pits. Nico would indicate that he was happy with the front and overall he was happy with the balance.

With eleven minutes remaining there were only three cars on the track. Schumacher was able to move into tenth as Alonso took to the track with the softer tyres. Both Sauber's and Torro Rosso cars were out on the track as Massa also came out, along with Vettel. Webber would follow his team-mate as there were seven minutes remaining. The track was now very busy with both Williams drivers also coming out to have their qualifying practice runs. Both Mercedes cars were still in their pits as Vettel went fastest in sector one. Alonso was not finding any time on the softer tyre while Vettel continued his quick lap. Nico and Rubens were currently in thirteenth and fourteenth. Vettel would go fastest with a time of 1m:38.487.

Both McLaren's were on quicker laps with Hamilton moving up to fifth while Webber moved to the top of the times with a 1m:38.313. Button was now fifth, 1m:38.769, but he was passed by Massa. Rubens had moved into tenth, 1m:39.179. Kubica was on a quick lap moving from fourth to fastest, 1m:38.154. Webber was second from Vettel, Sutil, Alonso, Massa, Button, and Hamilton. Rubens was now eleventh and Nico fourteenth, 1m:39.298. Sutil would move up to fourth, 1m:38.500, while as the session came to an end Vettel went fastest in sector one. Webber and Sutil had pitted while Rubens was on an improved lap to move up to sixth, 1m:38.623, with Liuzzi now seventh. Vettel's lap would see him regain his fastest time with a 1m:38.052 with Kubica second. Nico had improved to be thirteenth, 1m:39.105.

So with the end of the final practice the order was Vettel from Kubica, Webber, Sutil, Alonso, Rubens, Liuzzi, Massa, Button, and Hamilton in tenth. Nico was in thirteenth. A good effort from Rubens in this session with his time only 0.5 behind the quickest time. Nico was one second off the pace and as far as his prospects in qualifying it would be difficult for him to get past Q2. Rubens was looking strong to make it into Q3.

Pos  Driver         Team		    Time      Laps
 1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:38.052  14
 2.  Kubica         Renault                 1:38.154  17
 3.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        1:38.313  13
 4.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1:38.500  17
 5.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:38.513  18
 6.  Barrichello    AT&T Williams-Cosworth  1:38.623  15
 7.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1:38.676  17
 8.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:38.686  16
 9.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:38.769  16
10.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:38.816  15
11.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:38.822  15
12.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:39.050  16
13.  Hulkenberg     AT&T Williams-Cosworth  1:39.105  15
14.  Petrov         Renault                 1:39.113  16
15.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1:39.222  14
16.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:39.392  18
17.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1:39.527  16
18.  de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari          1:39.699  16
19.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          1:41.303  19
20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          1:41.428  20
21.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         1:41.955  17
22.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         1:42.354  18
23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth            1:42.611  18
24.  Chandhok       HRT-Cosworth            1:42.622  19