Button Finishes First in Practice Run for Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The current reigning world champion Jenson Button once again proved himself rounding out the final practice session in first place for this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The upcoming Grand Prix will be the last race of the season for 2009, and Button, so far in practices, is leading the competition.
The Brawn driver earned the fastest recorded time snatching it away from McLaren’s hopeful, Lewis Hamilton by turning out a lap of just one minute and 40.625 seconds under tough conditions. The newly introduced Yas Marina circuit saw 19 more drivers come in up to 1.7 seconds later as they practiced on the new raceway. One driver was unable to participate in the test run, Jaime Alguersuari, as his Toro Rosso was suffering from hydraulic failure.
However, the 29-year old Brit Jenson Button and his entire Brawn-backed team swept the last international race in Brazil dominating both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. Although it was Formula 1’s most recently built track, Button and his crew hit it hard, while most drivers seemed to take a more relaxed approach.
Although McLaren’s main guy, Hamilton went more quickly in the first session held Friday on the new track, and then his teammate repeated this in the second session. However, although both placed in qualifying time, Button took the lead for the third and final session prior to the official competition.
The biggest revelation for the third session was the obvious rivalry stewing between Button and Hamilton which could make for an exciting pairing next season. The two will race head to head in this coming Grand Prix, with both finishing first in respective practice sessions.
The final race of the year will be the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and today’s practice session was the last to be held for the upcoming competition.
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