Vettel fastest again in final practice in China

Button in a close second followed by Hamilton. Mercedes and Ferrari with a encouraging session.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

SHANGHAI, April 16, 2011 (AFP) - Germany's reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel led the field in final practice for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix with the Red Bull driver eclipsing his rivals late in the session.

The 23-year-old, who has been fastest all weekend, clocked a time of one minute 34.968 seconds in the final minutes of Saturday's practice session.

Vettel, who is aiming to be the first driver in seven years to take pole at the first three races of the season, finished two tenths of a second ahead of Briton Jenson Button's McLaren. Button's team mate and fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton was two tenths of a second further back in third place.

Championship leader Vettel's fellow countryman Nico Rosberg of Mercedes was in fourth.

In contrast, Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Australian Mark Webber was left fuming after finishing the session only 15th fastest owing to an electrical fault with his car.

Ferrari drivers double champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Brazilian Felipe Massa were fifth and sixth quickest respectively followed by Russian Vitaly Petrov of Renault.

Force India driver German Adrian Sutil was in eighth ahead of his countryman and seven times champion Michael Schumacher in the second Mercedes, while Rookie Briton Paul di Resta in the second Force India was 10th fastest.

If Vettel, who leads the standings after wins in Australia and Malaysia, takes pole Saturday he would become the first driver to start at the front of the grid in the season's opening three races since Schumacher in 2004.

Here are the P3 times:

PRACTICE #3
POS	No	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	DIFF.	LAPS
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	1:34.968		13
2	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:35.176	0.208	15
3	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:35.373	0.405	14
4	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:35.677	0.709	18
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:35.818	0.850	17
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:35.971	1.003	15
7	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1:36.098	1.130	18
8	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1:36.125	1.157	15
9	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:36.141	1.173	14
10	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1:36.370	1.402	18
11	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	1:36.404	1.436	16
12	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:36.582	1.614	18
13	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:36.596	1.628	17
14	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	1:36.717	1.749	16
15	2	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	1:36.896	1.928	5
16	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	1:36.953	1.985	14
17	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1:37.007	2.039	20
18	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Cosworth	1:37.304	2.336	18
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	1:38.176	3.208	12
20	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	1:38.739	3.771	12
21	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	1:39.938	4.970	17
22	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin-Cosworth	1:39.998	5.030	16
23	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT-Cosworth	1:40.593	5.625	17
24	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1:40.881	5.913	18