Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas led the way during a closely-fought final practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix, with four drivers split by just 0.058s.
After early laps set on the Soft and Supersoft compounds, the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers battled it out for top spot on the red-banded rubber in overcast conditions at Interlagos.
Bottas wound up quickest with a 1:09.281, a mere 0.003s quicker than team-mate Lewis Hamilton, as Mercedes again ran 1-2, albeit with the order from Friday’s two sessions reversed.
However, Ferrari finished close behind, with third-placed Kimi Räikkönen only 0.045s down on his compatriot, while Sebastian Vettel took fourth, just 0.013s behind his team-mate.
Red Bull struggled to match the pace, with Daniel Ricciardo fifth, almost a second behind Bottas, while Max Verstappen complained of understeer before scuppering his Supersoft effort with a spin
Verstappen took too much exit kerb through Juncao and was pitched into a spin, though stopped short of hitting the barriers; the Dutchman was thus left down in ninth place, his best lap coming on the yellow-ring Soft compound.
Fernando Alonso headed the midfield group in sixth place, almost beating Red Bull’s Ricciardo, with Force India pair Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon seventh and eighth.
Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top 10, in front of McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Williams’ Felipe Massa.
Nico Hülkenberg split Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, while Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley added much-needed mileage for Toro Rosso, in the wake of the team publicly hitting out at supplier Renault.
Sauber pair Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson were the slowest of the timed runners, as Williams’ Lance Stroll finished at the foot of the field.
Stroll suffered a suspected gearbox problem as he exited Descida do Lago and was forced to abandon his FW40 at Ferradura.
