F-C

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.586
2. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.785
3. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari 1:39.971
4. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:39.980
5. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1:40.104
6. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1:40.132
7. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP 1:40.553
8. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1:40.951
9. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes 1:41.021
10. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari 1:41.490
11. Sergio Perez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 1:41.565
12. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:41.680
13. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault 1:41.947
14. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:41.983
15. Bruno Senna Brazil Renault 1:42.369
16. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1:42.798
17. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Cosworth 1:42.910
18. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Renault 1:43.561
19. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Renault 1:44.050
20. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP 1:44.265
21. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 1:45.486
22. Jerome d'Ambrosio Belgium Virgin-Cosworth 1:46.142
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy HRT-Cosworth 1:46.249
24. Daniel Ricciardo Australia HRT-Cosworth 1:46.328

F-C

Pirelli has ruled out a structural tyre failure as the cause of Sebastian Vettel's opening lap problem at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Following a detailed examination of the tyre after the crash, which suffered an instantaneous deflation and put Vettel out of the race after he spun and damaged his rear suspension, Pirelli is adamant that the issue was not caused by factors under its control.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Pirelli insisted that structural failure of the tyre or valve had been ruled out - with it doubtful that debris was to blame either.

Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery said: "We can confirm that a structural failure was not the cause of Sebastian Vettel's deflation in Abu Dhabi, a conclusion that we have arrived at together with Red Bull Racing following a detailed examination and analysis of the remains of the tyre.

"We cannot rule out debris on the track causing damage to the tyre, which then provoked a deflation, but having looked at the track closely there is no direct evidence of this."

Pirelli's statement appears to suggest that Red Bull Racing itself may have contributed to the failure.

There has been speculation that the tyre could have failed as the result of overheating complications caused by hot exhaust gases being blown across it.

Red Bull Racing has so far not commented on the outcome of its own investigation into the matter, despite being contacted for an explanation.