Abu Dhabi: Heikki Kovalainen topped the times in the second free practice session for the season-ending and inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton, who dominated the first session, was the man to beat for most of the second session being held in twilight and darkness but his 28-year-old Finnish teammate just managed to outpace his McLaren Mercedes in the final minutes.
Kovalainen clocked a best time of one minute and 41.307 seconds, beating Hamilton by just one-tenth of a second although the entire top ten were only separated by six-tenths of a second.
New world champion Jenson Button of Britain wound up third fastest for Brawn GP ahead of his season-long rival German Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, who was fourth.
Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of Toyota finished fifth, in only his second Grand Prix, a terrific effort on the opening day on a new circuit, ahead of Swiss Sebastian Buemi of Toro Rosso.
German Nico Rosberg, in his last appearance for the Williams team, was ninth and Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who is bidding farewell to Ferrari, was 10th.
Two times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who is leaving Renault for Ferrari, was down in 16th place ahead of Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella, in the second Ferrari, with Renault-bound Pole Robert Kubica propping up the order in 20th place after his BMW Sauber suffered an engine failure.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, October 30, 2009, 22:29