EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX
Venue: Valencia ** Dates:** 21-23 August 2009 Coverage: Live coverage of Friday’s practice sessions, Saturday qualifying and Sunday’s race - which starts at 1300 BST - across BBC TV, radio and online platforms.Find full listings here
**Force India’s Adrian Sutil topped a flag-interrupted final practice at the European Grand Prix as a Sebastian Vettel blow-out marred the session.**The German’s Red Bull suffered engine failure while running in 15th, spilling a stream of oil on to the track that held up the session for 30 minutes.
That allowed only a final five minutes, during which Sutil produced a storming lap of 1:39.143 to top the charts.
Williams’s Kazuki Nakajima and BMW’s Robert Kubica were second and third.
However, with Jenson Button seventh in his Brawn GP, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton eighth and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen 14th, it is near impossible to decipher the cars’ true race pace from the final running.
Indeed, Fernando Alonso, who topped second practice on Friday in his Renault, was down in 15th despite starting the session looking in good shape.
** F1Aussie**
McLaren and Brawn GP will possibly be the most encouraged of the championship front-runners, with Hamilton looking to pick up where he left off after his victory in Hungary last time out and Button enjoying an improved performance following a disappointing run of results.
Brawn GP’s struggles to get temperature in their tyres has seen the Briton’s championship lead cut to 18.5 points, but with track temperatures in Valencia pushing 50 degrees, Button and team-mate Rubens Barrichello were again able to get the best out of their cars.
Force India will no doubt also be hugely encouraged by Sutil’s success - the first time he has topped a session since Monaco 2008.
He and Giancarlo Fisichella both impressed in their updated drives, with many tipping the team for their first points of the season come Sunday.
The news was less good, though, for Red Bull, who started the session desperate to test their race set-ups as they look to claw back Button’s lead in the driver’s race.
Vettel’s blow-out not only ended the German’s session, but it is the third time this season he has suffered engine failure.
Red Bull will now have to fit a new engine for qualifying, leaving the 22-year-old only five more legitimate engines to run on for the rest of the season.
Fellow Red Bull Mark Webber could himself only manage 17th, leaving them an uphill struggle to challenge the likes of Brawn and McLaren in Saturday afternoon qualifying.