Rain played a part as Robert Kubica left it late to pip Sebastien Vettel to the fastest final practice time for the Brazilian GP.
Pole pinches best practice time ahead of Vettel in rainy Brazil
Rain played a part as expected, as Robert Kubica left it late to pip Sebastien Vettel to the fastest time in final practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
In the final hour-long session before qualifying later on Saturday, a heavy burst of rain hit Interlagos in the morning, with then only light rain following for the first 40 minutes before eventually relenting.
Although the track remained wet throughout, times were only eight seconds adrift of Vettel's pace yesterday in the dry when he topped the timesheet on both occasions, his best with a lap just under 72 seconds.
In the wet, Vettel was poised to complete the first practice hat-trick of the season in his Red Bull, only for Renault's Kubica to dislodge him a minute from the end.
The Pole finished with a time of one minute 19.191secs for the undulating track that covers just 4.309km, the second shortest on the calendar behind Monaco.
Sectors
Remarkably, Kubica was not fastest in any of the three sectors, yet managed to finish 0.309secs clear of Vettel, with Lewis Hamilton third at 0.345secs adrift.
Hamilton was quickest in the first and third sectors, unsurprising as they are dominated by long, sweeping curves, ideally suited to the McLaren.
It was in the more twisty in-field section where Hamilton lost all his time, and where Vettel was fastest, which has been the Achilles heel for McLaren all season.
The top nine drivers were covered by a second as the rain at least proved more of a leveller, given Red Bull on Friday reigned supreme in the dry.
The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were fourth and fifth quickest, with Vitaly Petrov sixth in his Renault, followed by Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi.
Button behind
Nico Rosberg was eighth in his Mercedes, with Jenson Button ninth for McLaren, 0.973secs behind Kubica, while Rubens Barrichello rounded out the top 10 in his Williams.
Mark Webber was a surprisingly lowly 11th, 1.146secs adrift, and even more unusual was that the Australian completed just six laps, although Red Bull reported no issues with his car.
The backmarkers were again Hispania, with Bruno Senna ahead of team-mate Christian Klien by 0.292secs, but with the duo four seconds down on the leaders.
