Sebatian Vettel can confidently head in to qualifying for the European Grand Prix 2010 in Valencia this afternoon after a strong showing in the final practice session.
For much of the session it was looking to go the way of the Ferrari’s and home hero Fernando Alonso after he set the pace on the prime tyres. In the closing moments of the session the drivers returned to the pits to fit the softer option tyres, this would see times fall for much of the field, with the exception of Alonso who seemed to be struggling to find the extra grip on the new tyres.
It seems that Renault powered cars have the upper-hand after the session saw Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber sandwich the yellow blur of Robert Kubica who put in a solid time to finish only 0.102s from the top.
Welcome surprise of the session was Rubens Barrichello, who managed to pull his Williams Cosworth around the 5.419km circuit in 1:38.623 – good enough to secure sixth place.
McLaren seemed to struggle throughout the session with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton finishing down in ninth and tenth place respectively, followed by Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher who was a further four places back.
The best Mercedes powered car of the session turned out to be that of Adrian Sutil who put in a stunning lap to finish the session in fourth place, with team-mate Liuzzi in seventh.
Lotus won battle of the ‘new teams’ with Heikki Kovalainen once again finishing fastest, just 1.604s from the Ferrari powered Saubers of Kobayashi and de la Rosa.
The session passed with no major incidents other than a handful of drivers out-braking themselves.
