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Lewis Hamilton Dominates The Night In Abu Dhabi Qualifying
McLaren Formula One driver & 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton has been simply brilliant this weekend on the new Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Courtesy of McLaren
by Mike Sulka
McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton destroyed the 20 car field in taking the Pole position by an amazing six tenths of a second for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The event will be held Sunday at the 21-turn Yas Marina circuit and it is making its debut on the 2009 F1 calendar starting in the light of day, and finishing under lights.
For Hamilton and his MP4-24 McLaren Mercedes it was his fourth Pole of the 2009 season (Europe, Italy, Singapore - the others), and 17th of his 51 race F1 career. Tomorrow, Hamilton will go for his third win of the season (Hungary, Singapore - the others) and sixth podium in the last nine Grand Prix.
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For McLaren, the team will be going for their third win of the season while holding onto a slim one point lead in the 2009 Formula One constructors standings as they battle their mighty Italian foes Scuderia Ferrari for third place and the millions in extra financial rewards that come with it.
Lewis Hamilton has been on fire all weekend said, "The car is the best it has been all year, and its quite comfortable on this circuit. That lap for me wasn't too aggressive, it was just kinda of smooth."
Behind Hamilton, the bulls came charging.
Sebastian Vettel was best of the rest and said, "We were quite surprised by the gap to Hamilton. It may be very difficult tomorrow, but we'll know more when the strategies are clear. The car is working well, but the KERS button just isn't working."
Red Bull doesn't use KERS.
Australian Mark Webber was happy to see Red Bull keep ahead of the Brawn boys (2009 World Champion Jenson Button & Rubens Barrichello). "The grid today is the story of the second half of the championship. I'm pretty happy."
Alluding to the fact that Red Bull have won more races (4) than anyone since the British Grand Prix. Webber is also Formula One's most recent winner after taking victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
In a few hours, fuel loads may or may not reveal any hidden secrets. Stay tuned to paddocktalk.com for a full preview, starting line-up, and starting grid of the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
| Pos |
No |
Driver |
Team |
First |
Second |
Third |
Laps |
| 1 |
1 |
L. Hamilton |
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
1:39.873 |
1:39.695 |
1:40.948 |
20 |
| 2 |
15 |
S. Vettel |
Red Bull Racing |
1:40.666 |
1:39.984 |
1:41.615 |
21 |
| 3 |
14 |
M. Webber |
Red Bull Racing |
1:40.667 |
1:40.272 |
1:41.726 |
21 |
| 4 |
23 |
R. Barrichello |
Brawn GP Formula One Team |
1:40.574 |
1:40.421 |
1:41.786 |
24 |
| 5 |
22 |
J. Button |
Brawn GP Formula One Team |
1:40.378 |
1:40.148 |
1:41.892 |
25 |
| 6 |
9 |
J. Trulli |
Panasonic Toyota Racing |
1:40.517 |
1:40.373 |
1:41.897 |
24 |
| 7 |
5 |
R. Kubica |
BMW Sauber F1 Team |
1:40.520 |
1:40.545 |
1:41.992 |
25 |
| 8 |
6 |
N. Heidfeld |
BMW Sauber F1 Team |
1:40.558 |
1:40.635 |
1:42.343 |
24 |
| 9 |
16 |
N. Rosberg |
AT&T Williams |
1:40.842 |
1:40.661 |
1:42.583 |
25 |
| 10 |
12 |
S. Buemi |
Scuderia Toro Rosso |
1:40.908 |
1:40.430 |
1:42.713 |
27 |
| 11 |
4 |
K. Raikkonen |
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro |
1:41.100 |
1:40.726 |
- |
20 |
| 12 |
10 |
K. Kobayashi |
Panasonic Toyota Racing |
1:41.035 |
1:40.777 |
- |
17 |
| 13 |
2 |
H. Kovalainen |
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
1:40.808 |
1:40.983 |
- |
16 |
| 14 |
17 |
K. Nakajima |
AT&T Williams |
1:41.096 |
1:41.148 |
- |
18 |
| 15 |
11 |
J. Alguersuari |
Scuderia Toro Rosso |
1:41.503 |
1:41.689 |
- |
19 |
| 16 |
7 |
F. Alonso |
ING Renault F1 Team |
1:41.667 |
- |
- |
12 |
| 17 |
21 |
V. Liuzzi |
Force India F1 Team |
1:41.701 |
- |
- |
10 |
| 18 |
20 |
A. Sutil |
Force India F1 Team |
1:41.863 |
- |
- |
10 |
| 19 |
8 |
R. Grosjean |
ING Renault F1 Team |
1:41.950 |
- |
- |
12 |
| 20 |
3 |
G. Fisichella |
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro |
1:42.184 |
- |
- |
12 |
PaddockTalk Perspective
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