Mercedes again present themselves as favorites for the qualifying session this afternoon after leading FP3 ahead of the Ferrari. Hamilton is followed by Rosberg and Vettel.
Sebastian Vettel had a lot of work to do, trying to get back the time lost in FP2 yesterday of which he could not take part because of a gear-box failure. Unlike most of the drivers, he started today’s session with a car full of fuel. Several drivers like Perez, Rosberg, Hamilton and Grosjean spun in T13 which could be the key for a good qualifying lap.
After the first hour, Mercedes led the field with Rosberg ahead of Hamilton followed by Raïkkönen, Massa, Ricciardo, Bottas, Perez, Sainz and Magnussen. Little afterwards, Alonso and Button managed to get P10 and P11.
Finally, it’s Hamilton who was the fastest at the end of the session, less than 0.1s faster than Rosberg, which announces at tight qualifying session between the two rivals. Vettel was P3, 0.6s slower than Hamilton and Raikkonen was more than 1s slower. The top 10 is completed by Massa, Bottas, Verstappen, Button, Sainz and Perez.