Sebastian Vettel expects the two McLarens to push him hard for pole position and race victory in Abu Dhabi despite leading them in practice today. The world champion was two tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton and was particularly concerned by the race pace of Hamilton and Jenson Button.
“I think we can be happy with today. Overall we got a good lap on the soft tyres, but in general pace the McLaren’s were quick and seem competitive, so they’re the ones we need to look out for and beat. We need to improve the car overnight to qualify as high as we can tomorrow.”
Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was fourth fastest but missed out on the chance of a race simulation after a water leak which later manifested itself into a KERS problem. Webber doesn’t expect the lack of running in FP2 to have a detrimental effect on his weekend though.
“We had a KERS issue, which wasn’t the same as last week. It never helps to miss some running on the track during practice, but it’s not a big deal. The track will move around a little bit from where it is now, but not a huge amount; it’s in pretty good shape straightaway. We’ll get it fixed tonight and come back tomorrow.”