Singapore GP: Sebastian Vettel leads Ferrari one-two in FP3
Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in final practice for the Singapore Grand Prix, while both Mercedes struggled and were more than one second off the pace
The German clocked a time of 1m45.682s on the super-soft tyres, 0.450s clear of his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo were third and fourth respectively with world champion Lewis Hamilton down in fifth, 1.120s adrift, and the other Mercedes of Nico Rosberg sixth.
Fernando Alonso, whose McLaren team hoped the low-speed nature of the circuit would help mask the power deficit of its Honda power unit, was seventh, a few thousandths behind Rosberg.
Red Bull and Ferrari looked quick in second practice on Friday, with Kvyat topping the times, but Mercedes was expected to hit back on Saturday.
That challenge did not materialise, however, with Vettel setting the pace on the soft tyres and maintaining that advantage when drivers swapped to the quicker rubber for their qualifying simulations.
Hamilton had an off during his run on the soft tyres and later in the session he was called into the pits for a drive-through to cool the car down.
The reigning world champion now faces a fight to equal Ayrton Senna's record of eight successive pole positions when qualifying takes place later on Saturday.
The Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen, who locked up heavily at Turn 7 early on, were eighth and ninth respectively with Sauber's Marcus Ericsson completing the top 10.
Valtteri Bottas was the highest placed Williams in 11th, while Nico Hulkenberg, whose Force India has its complete B-spec update this weekend, was 12th.
Jenson Button was half a second off his McLaren team-mate Alonso in 13th, ahead of Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado.
The Manor drivers propped up the timesheets, with Alexander Rossi heading team-mate Will Stevens on his first full grand prix weekend.
FP3 RESULT
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m45.682s | - | 12 |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m46.132s | 0.450s | 12 |
| 3 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 1m46.167s | 0.485s | 19 |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m46.359s | 0.677s | 14 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m46.802s | 1.120s | 15 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m47.223s | 1.541s | 16 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1m47.237s | 1.555s | 14 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m47.301s | 1.619s | 18 |
| 9 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m47.464s | 1.782s | 17 |
| 10 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m47.568s | 1.886s | 20 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m47.587s | 1.905s | 20 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m47.640s | 1.958s | 16 |
| 13 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m47.715s | 2.033s | 14 |
| 14 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m47.733s | 2.051s | 21 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 1m47.817s | 2.135s | 16 |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m48.002s | 2.320s | 15 |
| 17 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Mercedes | 1m48.116s | 2.434s | 15 |
| 18 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m48.932s | 3.250s | 20 |
| 19 | Alexander Rossi | Marussia/Ferrari | 1m52.588s | 6.906s | 26 |
| 20 | Will Stevens | Marussia/Ferrari | 1m55.293s | 9.611s | 22 |
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Sebastian Vettel |
| Teams | Ferrari |
| Author | Lawrence Barretto |
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