Australian GP: Lewis Hamilton fastest in final free practice
Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the final free practice session ahead of qualifying for the opening race of the Formula 1 season in Australia
With most drivers completing qualifying simulation runs in the final 10 minutes of the session, this was the first time that there was a chance to compare the raw speed of the 2015 cars.
The world champion had set the pace during the first part of the session, when drivers were running on the slower medium-compound Pirellis, over two tenths faster than team-mate Rosberg.
But with Rosberg only able to find a half-second improvement when he switched onto the quicker soft rubber in the closing stages of the session, the way was clear for Hamilton to secure top spot.
Hamilton's first flier on the softs was good enough to take P1 by 0.696s ahead of Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, with Rosberg's qualifying simulation run only good enough for third overall.
On his second quick lap of the run, Hamilton set the best time of the session in both the first and second sectors before aborting his run and heading to the pits.
Williams pairing Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were fourth and fifth fastest, with Kimi Raikkonen in sixth, only three-hundredths off the Brazilian.
Lotus, now with Mercedes power, continued to show top-10 form, with Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado seventh and eighth.
Carlos Sainz was ninth fastest despite a trip through the gravel while on his qualifying run late in the session, with Toro Rosso team-mate MaxVerstappen 11th.
They sandwiched Sauber driver Felipe Nasr, with the second Swiss machine of Marcus Ericsson 12th after the Swede survived a high-speed spin at the exit of Turn 12.
Force India, still lacking in experience of its 2015 car, ended the session 13th and 14th with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez both anticipating a difficult weekend.
Red Bull had a dire session, with Daniel Ricciardo completing only 10 laps on top of the nine he managed yesterday thanks to an engine failure.
Ricciardo was 15th fastest, 3.318s off the pace, with his session being interrupted by stopping on track close to the pit exit before being recovered by marshals and returning to action shortly after.
His team-mate, Daniil Kvyat, also had a troubled session, managing only six laps, leaving him down in 18th behind the struggling McLaren-Hondas of Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button.
With Manor still battling to get its cars up and running, both Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi were again unable to run.
FREE PRACTICE 3 RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m27.867s | - | 11 |
2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m28.563s | 0.696s | 13 |
3 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m28.821s | 0.954s | 14 |
4 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m28.912s | 1.045s | 14 |
5 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m28.988s | 1.121s | 18 |
6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m29.017s | 1.150s | 13 |
7 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Mercedes | 1m29.481s | 1.614s | 12 |
8 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 1m29.864s | 1.997s | 15 |
9 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m29.869s | 2.002s | 19 |
10 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m29.934s | 2.067s | 24 |
11 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m29.952s | 2.085s | 16 |
12 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m30.613s | 2.746s | 21 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m30.741s | 2.874s | 14 |
14 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m30.993s | 3.126s | 17 |
15 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m31.185s | 3.318s | 10 |
16 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren/Honda | 1m31.391s | 3.524s | 14 |
17 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m31.666s | 3.799s | 13 |
18 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 1m32.830s | 4.963s | 6 |
Manor drivers did not complete a lap
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments