Nico Rosberg looked comfortable during the third and final practice session to go quickest as team-mate Lewis Hamilton complained of set-up problems, though finished just two-tenths down.
The key points from FP3:
– Rosberg quickest by just under two-tenths to team-mate Hamilton.
– Ferrari still holding onto second best with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel third and fourth respectively.
– The gap between Ferrari and Williams has closed up a little, with Felipe Massa just a tenth off, whilst Valtteri Bottas set an almost identical time.
– Extremely hot temperatures produced some tricky track conditions during FP3, though rain is forecast for qualifying.
– McLaren look set to fight Force India for the final Q2 positions after finishing 15th and 18th, whilst the Force India pair were 14th and 16th.
– Manor’s Roberto Merhi narrowly made the 107% time in FP3, whilst team-mate Will Stevens was just outside after limited running due to an electrical fault.
# | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
01 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:39.690 | – | 13 |
02 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:39.873 | 0.183 | 10 |
03 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:40.245 | 0.555 | 9 |
04 | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:40.266 | 0.576 | 13 |
05 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:40.391 | 0.701 | 14 |
06 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:40.406 | 0.716 | 15 |
07 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:40.590 | 0.900 | 19 |
08 | C. Sainz Jr | Toro Rosso | 1:40.601 | 0.911 | 19 |
09 | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:40.989 | 1.299 | 18 |
10 | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 1:41.200 | 1.510 | 19 |
11 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:41.206 | 1.516 | 16 |
12 | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:41.592 | 1.902 | 18 |
13 | D. Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:41.775 | 2.085 | 14 |
14 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:41.804 | 2.114 | 15 |
15 | F. Alonso | McLaren | 1:41.991 | 2.301 | 13 |
16 | S. Perez | Force India | 1:42.099 | 2.409 | 14 |
17 | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:42.117 | 2.427 | 18 |
18 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:42.319 | 3.629 | 13 |
19 | R. Merhi | Marussia | 1:46.647 | 6.957 | 9 |
20 | W. Stevens | Marussia | 1:47.059 | 7.369 | 6 |