Sebastian Vettel sets early Abu Dhabi pace

Sebastian Vettel sets early Abu Dhabi pace

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina, 12-14 November

Practice: Friday 12 November, 0855-1035 and 1255-1435; and Saturday 13 November 0955-1105, Red Button, online and 5 live sports extra
Qualifying: 1215-1420 on BBC One, Red Button, online and 5 live sports extra
Race: 1210-1515 on BBC One, Red Button, online and Radio 5 live sports extra
(l-r) Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber
Hamilton's title hopes hang by a thread with Vettel, Alonso or Webber likely to win the drivers' world championship on Sunday

By Peter Scrivener

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel set the pace in Friday's first practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The German, who is third in race for the drivers' championship, 15 points behind leader Fernando Alonso, posted a time of one minute 42.760 seconds.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who has a slim chance of winning his second world drivers' title, was second quickest.

Fellow title contenders, Mark Webber of Red Bull and Ferrari's Alonso, were fourth and sixth.

Very little happened for the first 45 minutes of the 90-minute session as the teams waited for the track to dry out following some unseasonal showers in the United Arab Emirates.

However, as the track temperature warmed up, so to did the session, with Vettel quickly setting down a marker for the weekend and he finished as the only driver under one minute, 43 seconds.

FOUR-WAY TITLE BATTLE EXPLAINED
1 ALONSO 246pts
2 WEBBER 238pts
3 VETTEL 231pts
4 HAMILTON 222pts
If Alonso wins or is second, he is champion
If Webber wins, he wins the title if Alonso is third or worse
If Vettel wins and Alonso is 5th or worse, Vettel wins the title
If Hamilton wins, Alonso must fail to score, Webber be 6th or worse and Vettel 3rd or worse for Hamilton to win the title

And it looked likely that his Red Bull team-mate Webber, who is second in the drivers' standings, eight points adrift of Alonso, would be second until McLaren duo Hamilton and Jenson Button posted their quickest times late on to move up to second and third.

Hamilton, who must win the final race of the season to stand any chance of winning the title, may have gone even quicker than the 1:43.369 he recorded had he not gone wide on coming out of the final turn as the session drew towards a close.

Button, whose hopes of defending the drivers' championship were ended at last week's Brazilian Grand Prix, also popped into the top three late on with a quickest lap of 1:43.785.

Current championship leader Alonso posted a 1:44.121 to finish sixth behind Renault's Robert Kubica.

The Spaniard knows that if he finishes first or second in Sunday's race he will win his first title as a Ferrari driver and become the ninth, and youngest, driver to win a third world championship.

ANDREW BENSON'S BLOG
Will Red Bull really refuse to intercede and risk losing the championship to Alonso?

But if Alonso comes third or worse, he is relying on the results of Webber and Vettel to decide his fate.

If Webber wins the race, he will clinch the championship if Alonso does not finish second.

If Vettel takes the chequered flag, Alonso has a little bit more of a buffer and will triumph if he finishes at least fifth.

Friday's second practice session starts at 1300 BST.