Hamilton keeps the lead ahead of qualifying

Lewis Hamilton kept the lead in FP1 with a 1:44.352 lap time, two tenths faster than Nico Rosberg, Nico Hülkenberg P3.

Some modifications were done by FIA overnight on the track, especially the the pit lane entrance which had been narrowed for a security matter. Five minutes into the session, a drainage grid got off in the pit lane entrance by Valtteri Bottas’ car, damaging the Williams everywhere. The first mistake of the session came from Sergio Perez who oversteered in T1, using the run off area.

Daniel Ricciardo was the fastest fifteen minutes into the session ahead of his teammate and both Force India drivers. Meanwhile, Mercedes cars stayed in their garage, waiting for the track to get grained. Nico Rosberg got a new engine as he broke his former one in FP2 and stole Ricciardo his fastest time. Lewis Hamilton seem to have more struggle with a lot of oversteer.

Kimi Raikkonen is someone else struggling with his engine, just like in FP2, only P20 halfway through the session, Sebastian Vettel after a timid first part of the session managed to get close to Rosberg with a P3, 0.259s from his fellow countryman.

The second half of the session was quite calm as about half of the grid stayed in the box. With twelve minutes to go, Rosberg started his qualifying simulation with super soft tyres with a 1:44.610 lap time while Hamilton was still in the pits. With six minutes left on the clock, Raikkonen managed to come back on track. In the last minute, Hamilton could go two tenths faster than Rosberg. Meanwhile, Perez lost the rear at turn 15 and did the same mistake Daniel Ricciardo did in FP1. The Force India mechanics will have to work hard to fix the car for qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest in the last session before qualifying ahead of Rosberg, closer than yesterday and Nico Hulkenberg. Ricciardo, Vettel, Perez, Verstappen, Button, Kvyat and Raikkonen complete the top 10. Valtteri Bottas could not take part in the session.

Results: