Button makes a clean sweep at Suzuka
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| Jenson Button |
As he did in both practice sessions on Friday, Jenson Button led the way in the final session Saturday morning before qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Button took first position with a 1m31.255s. His McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton ended up second quickest, half a second back.
Sebastian Vettel (1:32.122) looked to be carrying more fuel en route to third quickest lap, fractionally quicker than Fernando Alonso's Ferrari (1:32.279). Mark Webber was fifth quickest (1:32.401) in the second Red Bull, two hundredths ahead of Felipe Massa with the second Ferrari.
Webber took a new engine for FP3, his sixth Renault of the permitted eight.
The Mercedes drivers were next, Michael Schumacher (1:32.725) marginally quicker than Nico Rosberg (1:32.878). Vitaly Petrov (1:33.058) put the first Renault ninth, with Adrian Sutil (1:33.424) 10th with the first Force India.
Results
|
Pos |
Driver | Team/Car | Time | Behind |
| 1. | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m31.255s | +0.000s |
| 2. | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m31.762s | +0.507s |
| 3. | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1m32.122s | +0.867s |
| 4. | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1m32.279s | +1.024s |
| 5. | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1m32.401s | +1.146s |
| 6. | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1m32.429s | +1.174s |
| 7. | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1m32.725s | +1.470s |
| 8. | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m32.878s | +1.623s |
| 9. | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1m33.058s | +1.803s |
| 10. | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1m33.424s | +2.169s |
| 11. | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1m33.469s | +2.214s |
| 12. | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1m33.545s | +2.290s |
| 13. | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m33.818s | +2.563s |
| 14. | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m33.836s | +2.581s |
| 15. | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1m33.990s | +2.735s |
| 16. | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1m34.321s | +3.066s |
| 17. | Bruno Senna | Renault | 1m35.389s | +4.134s |
| 18. | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1m35.651s | +4.396s |
| 19. | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1m36.327s | +5.072s |
| 20. | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1m36.912s | +5.657s |
| 21. | Jerome D'Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1m37.938s | +6.683s |
| 22. | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1m38.011s | +6.756s |
| 23. | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT-Cosworth | 1m38.355s | +7.100s |
| 24. | Tonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 1m41.097s | +9.842s |