The German has been the fastest in a session that has seen that traffic may be a key factor in the qualifying session to be held in just over an hour.
The Red Bulls began setting the pace on the hard tyre while their direct competitors took a little longer to complete the laps. After the first attempt, Webber was the fastest, but Hamilton managed to improve his time on the second try with the hard. Alonso was placed 4th behind him and both Red Bull cars, while Rosberg was nearby.
With soft tyres, Vettel got the fastest time followed by his teammate and the Mercedes. Behind, to 0.6 s, was Fernando Alonso, indicating some improvement over the previous GP. Notably, many drivers have failed to squeeze the maximum on their laps, as is the case of Hamilton and both Lotus. We’ll see if the Mercedes are able to be on par or the German champion can afford once again to make only one flying lap in Q3.