The Polish driver defied the odds to take the P1 slot in the Brazilian GP weekend's final practice session with a 1:19.191, beating Sebastian Vettel by 0.309s.Next in line in the wet practice was Lewis Hamilton, who had already stated on Friday that he expected McLaren would do well on a wet Interlagos circuit.
Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were fourth and fifth, finishing ahead of Vitaly Petrov and Sebastien Buemi. Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button were the final two drivers to get within a second of Kubica's P1 time.
As for Mark Webber, the Aussie, who is second in the Drivers' Championship, could only manage the 11th best time in the rain.
Report: The third and final practice session for the Brazilian GP got underway under laden skies and on a rather wet Interlagos circuit with light rain falling. Heikki Kovalainen led the field out for the wet installation laps with plumes of spray trailing behind his Lotus. With all 24 drivers having ventured out for a lap or two, silence decended as they waited for the track conditions to improve at least a little bit.
With the rain easing up, Timo Glock put in the morning's first lap time, a 1:24.642 for the Virgin Racing driver. Nick Heidfeld was next into the P1 slot, followed by Sebastien Buemi, Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg with the latter dropping the P1 time to a 1:21.277.
Jenson Button climbed to second place behind Hulkenberg, who was down to a 1:20.535. However, the reigning World Champ soon lost the position to Lewis Hamilton, who in turn lost out to Mark Webber. Sebastian Vettel claimed fifth place ahead of Michael Schumacher, Petrov and Rubens Barrichello.
But it was all chance as Fernando Alonso put his Ferrari up into the P1 slot, improving from 16th place. It was a 1:20.200 for the Championship leader. Webber followed him up the order, second quickest, 0.137s off the pace. Alonso continued lapping, lowering the benchmark while Hamilton took second place ahead of Webber and Nico Rosberg.
Felipe Massa took over from his team-mate at the top, a 1:19.735 for the Brazilian. Vettel climbed to fourth ahead of Sebastien Buemi, who was having a fantastic run on the wet track. Vettel moved up to the top of the timesheets, 0,235s up on Massa.
With the track drying out, there was plenty of action in the final few minutes with the drivers pushing hard, resulting in a few slides and a few off-track moments. Hamilton moved up to second place, 0.036s behind Vettel. However, it was Kubica who overhauled the Red Bull driver, posting a 1:19.191 to finish the session fastest of all.
Times
01. Kubica Renault 1:19.191 16 laps
02. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:19.500 + 0.309 16 laps
03. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.536 + 0.345 18 laps
04. Massa Ferrari 1:19.735 + 0.544 9 laps
05. Alonso Ferrari 1:19.791 + 0.600 9 laps
06. Petrov Renault 1:19.887 + 0.696 22 laps
07. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.009 + 0.818 24 laps
08. Rosberg Mercedes 1:20.056 + 0.865 13 laps
09. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.164 + 0.973 24 laps
10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:20.320 + 1.129 13 laps
11. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:20.337 + 1.146 6 laps
12. Schumacher Mercedes 1:20.421 + 1.230 18 laps
13. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.452 + 1.261 21 laps
14. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:20.535 + 1.344 12 laps
15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.541 + 1.350 26 laps
16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:20.546 + 1.355 19 laps
17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:20.613 + 1.422 19 laps
18. Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.985 + 1.794 25 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:22.326 + 3.135 17 laps
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:22.449 + 3.258 26 laps
21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:22.874 + 3.683 20 laps
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:23.194 + 4.003 21 laps
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:23.358 + 4.167 20 laps
24. Klien HRT-Cosworth 1:23.650 + 4.459 19 laps
Source: Planet-F1
