Prac Three: Kubica seals it for BMW

Saturday 11th October 2008

Robert Kubica put in a late run to take the top spot in Saturday's final practice session for the Japanese GP.

The BMW driver, who had been lagging near the back of the pack for much of the wet session, posted a 1:25.087 to take the P1 slot by 0.084s ahead of Toyota's Timo Glock.

A late surge also saw Nelson Piquet Jr make it into the top three for Renault.

However, the battle that holds the most interest is that between Championship rivals Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton. And this morning the honours went to Massa by 0.2s over his McLaren rival.

Report: The track was declared wet at the start of the session, however, no rain was falling as the drivers ventured out for their first laps in the wet this weekend.

Nico Rosberg was the first driver to come out onto the track, with intermediate tyres on the Williams. He was followed by Lewis Hamilton and a train of cars, who quickly completed their installation laps.

Jarno Trulli was the first to surrender to the tricky conditions as he overshot the Turn 10 chicane and had to take to the grass before rejoining the circuit.

Honda driver Jenson Button set the first timed lap of the morning, posting a 1:28.661 using the Bridgestone extreme wets. Timo Glock and Giancarlo Fisichella joined the Honda driver out on track, with Glock moving ahead of him and Fisi slotting in behind.

Heikki Kovalainen was the next to go P1 with Sebastian Vettel taking scond place behind him. Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen took fifth and sixth places ahead of Sebastien Bourdais as more drivers came out for their timed laps.

Hamilton, using the intermediates, took the top spot away from his team-mate, clocking a 1:27.410 with Glock and Vettel also climbing the order. Rosberg overhauled Vettel with his team-mate Kazuki Nakajima taking fourth place ahead of Felipe Massa. Massa improved to third place, however, remained sixth tenths slower than his Championship rival.

After the first half of the session Adrian Sutil was the only driver who had yet to set a time, being kept in his garage by a hydraulics issue.

Massa continued lapping, moving up to second place right behind Hamilton and only 0.2s slower. Nelson Piquet Jr was also on the move, taking fourth place while Bourdais made the leap up to P2.

Vettel put in a fastest first sector time to take fifth place as Piquet Jr moved up fourth and Massa finally overhauled Hamilton at the top of the standings with a 1:25.709.

Raikkonen continued to lag near the back of the pack, the reigning World Champ down in 17th place and over a second off the pace.

Glock took second place off Hamilton after posting a fastest first sector time. The Toyota driver shone in the dry on Friday, finishing the day at the top of the timesheets at his team's home race.

David Coulthard made his way into the top six although moments later his team-mate Mark Webber pushed his out by going fourth quickest.

With ten minutes left on the clock BMW found themselves down in 16th and 18th place with Robert Kubica ahead of team-mate Nick Heidfeld. Only Fisichella was slower than Heidfeld while Button's Honda was parked between the BMWs. Another man not expected at the bottom was Fernando Alonso, with the Renault driver down in 15th place.

Raikkonen improved to 13th place as he ventured out, moving one spot to 12th on his second lap. However, on the following lap he spun his F2008 in the final corner.

Sutil finally put a time on the board, a 1:29.324 while Vettel moved up to third place. The STR driver, though, was quickly dropped by the improving Kubica. Kubica went on to take the P1 slot away from Massa only to have it snatched from his grasp seconds later by Pqiuet Jr. Coulthard went second, Heidfeld went top and at the last moment Kubica went top with Glock taking second place.

Times
01 R. Kubica BMW 1:25.087 19 laps
02 T. Glock Toyota 1:25.171 25 laps
03 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:25.415 19 laps
04 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:25.474 24 laps
05 K. Nakajima Williams 1:25.056 23 laps
06 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:25.614 20 laps
07 F. Massa Ferrari 1:25.709 15 laps
08 M. Webber Red Bull 1:25.785 20 laps
09 F. Alonso Renault 1:25.799 19 laps
10 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:25.880 24 laps
11 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:25.901 8 laps
12 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:25.984 22 laps
13 J. Trulli Toyota 1:26.013 21 laps
14 N. Rosberg Williams 1:26.213 19 laps
15 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:26.239 10 laps
16 K. R�ikk�nen Ferrari 1:26.277 18 laps
17 R. Barrichello Honda 1:26.662 22 laps
18 J. Button Honda 1:26.922 26 laps
19 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:27.357 12 laps
20 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:27.918 17 laps