Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso topped the final practice session prior to qualifying for the British Grand Prix on Saturday.
The drivers and teams will be thanking the heavens for the drier conditions which finally allowed them to gather valuable data on the soft and hard tyre following Friday’s washout.
Alonso’s quickest lap, a 1:32.167, put him a tenth and a half ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and FP1 leader Romain Grosjean – though the former used soft tyres whilst the latter pair were on the harder compound.
The remaining damp sections caught a few drivers out, including Kamui Kobayashi who span his Sauber, but fared better than his team-mate Sergio Perez who ran wide across the bumpy grass, losing his front-wing.
The session saw a single red flag caused by Marussia’s Charles Pic who stopped with a fuel pressure issue but later recovered to the pits, only to stop on track a second time.
2012 British GP FP3 Results:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:32.167 | 21 | |
| 02. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:32.320 | +0.153 | 20 |
| 03. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:32.358 | +0.191 | 25 |
| 04. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:32.420 | +0.253 | 21 |
| 05. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:32.454 | +0.287 | 25 |
| 06. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:32.477 | +0.310 | 20 |
| 07. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:32.622 | +0.455 | 21 |
| 08. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:32.940 | +0.773 | 19 |
| 09. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:33.046 | +0.879 | 20 |
| 10. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:33.150 | +0.983 | 19 |
| 11. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:33.267 | +1.100 | 25 |
| 12. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:33.367 | +1.200 | 20 |
| 13. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:33.398 | +1.231 | 24 |
| 14. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:33.462 | +1.295 | 24 |
| 15. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:33.673 | +1.506 | 22 |
| 16. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:33.674 | +1.507 | 21 |
| 17. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:33.707 | +1.540 | 21 |
| 18. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:33.733 | +1.566 | 15 |
| 19. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:34.298 | +2.131 | 18 |
| 20. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:34.781 | +2.614 | 20 |
| 21. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:36.605 | +4.438 | 18 |
| 22. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:37.060 | +4.893 | 14 |
| 23. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:37.269 | +5.102 | 23 |
| 24. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:37.429 | +5.262 | 17 |
