Hamilton spooks the opposition with Abu Dhabi pole31/10/2009

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pole goes to Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) has used Bridgestone’s medium compound Potenza tyre to blast to the first ever pole position at the dramatic Yas Marina circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton set a time of 1min 40.948secs and will start tomorrow’s race alongside Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel. The earlier practice session saw Brawn GP Formula 1 Team driver Jenson Button set the fastest time, also using the medium compound.

What was significant about today’s running at the Yas Marina?

“Today was about further learning the track and it still has a few tricks. We were treated to an exciting qualifying session and one where our harder tyre proved to be the quickest for pole position. Lewis Hamilton did a great job, particularly with his 1min 39.695secs time on the medium in Q2. Track conditions continue to improve so tomorrow’s race should be fascinating on many levels.”

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?

“Our information shows that neither tyre suffers particularly from degradation or wear. The medium tyre is very well suited to this track. It has good grip and its performance is consistent, meaning that lap times should fall as the cars get lighter. Based on the information so far the major race tyre strategy consideration will be minimising use of the soft. However, as the track is still improving so we could see better performance from the soft tomorrow.”

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

Stats of the Day

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice Three 14:00 – 15:00
Driver	Team	Time	Tyre
Jenson Button	Brawn GP Formula 1 Team	1m 40.625s	M
Lewis Hamilton	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	1m 40.627s	S
Rubens Barrichello	Brawn GP Formula 1 Team	1m 40.907s	M

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying 17:00 – 18:00
Driver	Team	Time	Tyre
Lewis Hamilton	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	1m 40.948s	M
Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1m 41.615s	M
Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1m 41.726s	M