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- Bahrain Grand Prix Free Practice 3
Alonso throws down marker in final practice
ESPNF1 Staff
March 13, 2010
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Fernando Alonso set the fastest time in FP3 © Sutton Images
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Fernando Alonso nailed the fastest lap of free practice on Saturday morning to further boost his position as favourite ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver set a time of 1:54.099, over two tenths faster than his nearest competitor Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. Mark Webber was third fastest in the Red Bull, ahead of Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa. The highest ranking McLaren was Jenson Button in seventh, nearly a second off Alonso's headline time. Lewis Hamilton failed to set a hot lap in the McLaren after a problem with his front-left brake duct ruled him out of the closing stages of the session. He finished in 12th overall. The close fight at the front sets up an intriguing battle for qualifying, with it still unclear whether the drivers were running with minimum fuel levels.
Renault's Robert Kubica got closest to the top four teams, 1.232 seconds off Alonso's pace in eighth place. However, he will undoubtedly face competition from Force India and Williams, both of which looked quick on soft tyre runs.
At the back of the field there was huge disappointment for Karun Chandhok, who failed to complete a lap in the HRT for the third practice session in a row. In theory it will rule him out of the rest of the weekend, as drivers are required to complete three laps in practice to take part in qualifying and the race.
Newcomers Virgin also had a hard time, as a loose wheel nut on Timo Glock's car caused the front-left tyre to come off midway through the session. Glock kept control of his VR-01 and managed to struggle back to the pits for a replacement. His team-mate Lucas di Grassi fared even worse and completed just two installation laps during the whole hour because of a gearbox problem. On the plus side for Virgin, Glock's best time was faster than the Lotus pair. Bruno Senna in the second HRT was 9.902 seconds off the best time overall, an improvement on Friday, but still leaving the F1 rookie in dead last.
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