• Chinese Grand Prix

Webber pips Hamilton in final practice

Mark Webber was fastest in final practice © Sutton Images

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• News:
• Vettel leads dominant Red Bull front-row lock out
  

• Race:
• Chinese Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Lewis Hamilton
• |
• Sebastian Vettel
• |
• Mark Webber

• Teams:
• McLaren
• |
• Red Bull

Mark Webber proved that Red Bull is still be the team to beat over one lap, setting the fastest time in the final free practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The good news is that it should be close in qualifying, as second fastest, just 0.241 adrift, was Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren splitting the two Red Bulls. Sebastian Vettel was just over a tenth slower than Hamilton but ahead of Jenson Button in the second McLaren. Ferrari's pace remains something of an enigma with Fernando Alonso fifth fastest, 0.534 off Webber, while Felipe Massa was a whole second off the pace after a big mistake on the final corner of his fast lap.

Massa lost the rear end of his F10 by edging onto the Astroturf that lines the exit of the corner, but just held onto the car with a flurry of opposite lock at the steering wheel. The same could not be said of Renault rookie Vitaly Petrov, who brought out the only red flag of the session when his car speared into the barriers at the same corner. The car should be repaired in time for qualifying but a new front end and suspension will need to be fitted in the two hour gap.

Mercedes again proved that it is still holding on to the coat-tails of the other three front runners, as Nico Rosberg set a time 0.590 off Webber. Michael Schumacher was a further four tenths behind his younger team-mate, but will be hoping to narrow that gap in what he reports to be one of his better race weekends this season. Mercedes was running its version of McLaren's F-duct concept (which is referred to within the team as the RW80) and look set to leave it on the car for the rest of the weekend. Williams also tested its own version on Rubens Barrichello's car, but removed it when the driver made clear that it was having no effect on the FW32's performance.

Robert Kubica was again capable of mixing it with the front runners in eighth place, while Kamui Kobayashi went some way to proving that Sauber's resurgence in yesterday's practice was not a one off, by setting the tenth fastest time. All the remaining questions will be answered in qualifying with the weather looking set to remain dry and around 17 degrees Centigrade throughout the session.

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