F1 Qualifying Results: Abu Dhabi

I think Mark Webber said it best when he explained that the grid for tomorrow’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix represents the second half of the season in performance.

There is no doubt that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has been the man of 2009 for me, and his team has the been the most improved. KERS has played a large part in their performance but that is also a testament to how well McLaren have done with the kinetic recovery and deployment system.

To see the Red Bulls slot into second and third for the race is indicative of their late-season form as well, and, as the Brawn’s of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are behind them, it does represent the latter part of the 2009 season as far as competitive edge.

Sadly, Ferrari may lose third in the constructors' title chase as Kimi Raikkonen qualified 11th, but then they were expecting a lot from a man they just sacked a year early and a car they sacked in late July.

Honorable mentions to BMW for showing up and Kamui Kobayashi for another good performance sitting in for injured Timo Glock. We’ll be looking for the fuel strategy to see who is gambling and who isn’t kidding.

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Pos -  Driver - Team - Q1 - Q2 - Q3
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:39.873 1:39.695 1:40.948
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:40.666 1:39.984 1:41.615
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:40.667 1:40.272 1:41.726
4. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:40.574 1:40.421 1:41.786
5. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:40.378 1:40.148 1:41.892
6. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:40.517 1:40.373 1:41.897
7. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:40.520 1:40.545 1:41.992
8. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:40.558 1:40.635 1:42.343
9. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:40.842 1:40.661 1:42.583
10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:40.908 1:40.430 1:42.713
11. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:41.100 1:40.726
12. Kobayashi Toyota (B) 1:41.035 1:40.777
13. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:40.808 1:40.983
14. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:41.096 1:41.148
15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:41.503 1:41.689
16. Alonso Renault (B) 1:41.667
17. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:41.701
18. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:41.863
19. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:41.950
20. Fisichella Ferrari (B) 1:42.184

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