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Austrian GP practice: Vettel fastest, big crash for Rosberg

Sebastian Vettel edged out Ferrari Formula 1 team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to set the pace in final Austrian Grand Prix practice as Nico Rosberg crashed following a suspension failure

Vettel clocked a 1m07.098s on the ultra-softs, 0.136 seconds clear of Raikkonen with Lewis Hamilton just under a tenth further back in third.

Reigning champion Hamilton ran wide at Turn 8 early in the session and radioed his Mercedes team complaining about his rear tyres, which looked to be badly blistered.

After a long stint in the garage, he returned to the track for his qualifying-simulation, but had to abort his run when the session was red-flagged after Rosberg crashed.

The championship leader ran onto the kerbs on the exit of Turn 2 with the left-rear tyre vibrating heavily.

The suspension then appeared to fail, pitching him into the barriers nose-first before he rebounded back onto the track.

Mercedes is investigating the issue and now faces a race to get the car fixed in time for qualifying later on Saturday afternoon.

As Rosberg was unable to complete a low-fuel run at the end of the session, he ended up bottom of the timesheets.

After a 10-minute stoppage, the session restarted with drivers left with just 12 minutes to complete their qualifying-simulations.

Vettel was first to set a lap time and promptly went quickest while Hamilton's first effort was 0.656s off the pace.

After a cool-down lap, Hamilton improved to a 1m07.308s but could not make any further inroads into Vettel's leading time.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was fourth quickest, half a second off the pace but a tenth quicker than team-mate Max Verstappen.

Valtteri Bottas ruined his final run when he pushed too hard into Turn 8 and spun but was still sixth, a fraction ahead of Williams team-mate Felipe Massa.

Nico Hulkenberg, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, who lost a piece of bodywork from his McLaren when he clobbered the aggressive yellow kerbs late in the session, completed the top 10.

PRACTICE THREE TIMES

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m07.098s - 20
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m07.234s 0.136s 26
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m07.308s 0.210s 20
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m07.639s 0.541s 22
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m07.761s 0.663s 22
6 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1m07.814s 0.716s 23
7 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m07.831s 0.733s 27
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m08.285s 1.187s 23
9 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1m08.304s 1.206s 19
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m08.327s 1.229s 17
11 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m08.442s 1.344s 26
12 Esteban Gutierrez Haas/Ferrari 1m08.475s 1.377s 22
13 Pascal Wehrlein Manor/Mercedes 1m08.534s 1.436s 29
14 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m08.550s 1.452s 21
15 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1m08.569s 1.471s 31
16 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m08.786s 1.688s 32
17 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m08.939s 1.841s 27
18 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m09.008s 1.910s 11
19 Rio Haryanto Manor/Mercedes 1m09.116s 2.018s 28
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m09.137s 2.039s 25
21 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1m09.557s 2.459s 20
22 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m10.959s 3.861s 16


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