A well-timed last minute lap by Sebastian Vettel on slick tyres put the Ferrari driver at the top of the timesheet in Melbourne’s final free practice session.
The wet-to-dry unpredictable conditions which prevailed Saturday morning enabled the German driver to enjoy an irrelevant cushion of 2.5s over Scuderia team mate Kimi Raikkonen and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, with only the first three drivers achieving their times on Pirelli’s ultrasoft slick rubber.
Australian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:26.067s
15
2
Kimi Räikkönen
Ferrari
1:28.499s
+ 2.432s
13
3
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
1:28.890s
+ 2.823s
14
4
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:31.680s
+ 5.613s
8
5
Carlos Sainz
Renault
1:33.172s
+ 7.105s
11
6
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
1:34.043s
+ 7.976s
14
7
Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes
1:34.174s
+ 8.107s
14
8
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:34.225s
+ 8.158s
7
9
Stoffel Vandoorne
McLaren
1:34.233s
+ 8.166s
15
10
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
1:34.298s
+ 8.231s
13
11
Pierre Gasly
Toro Rosso
1:34.990s
+ 8.923s
16
12
Brendon Hartley
Toro Rosso
1:35.438s
+ 9.371s
16
13
Sergey Sirotkin
Williams
1:35.589s
+ 9.522s
16
14
Lance Stroll
Williams
1:35.828s
+ 9.761s
8
15
Romain Grosjean
Haas
1:36.171s
+ 10.104s
6
16
Charles Leclerc
Sauber
1:36.448s
+ 10.381s
12
17
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:36.807s
+ 10.740s
7
18
Nico Hülkenberg
Renault
1:38.482s
+ 12.415s
8
19
Esteban Ocon
Force India
1
20
Sergio Pérez
Force India
1
From the outset, drivers ventured out onto the Albert Park track for their exploratory laps on wet tyres.
A few cars risked running on Pirelli’s inters however, which proved the better choice in the early part of the session.
One man left stranded in his garage was Lance Stroll, the Canadian’s Williams having fallen victim to gearbox issue which his crew eventually resolved towards the end of the session.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was the first driver to lay down a marker, achieving a 1m40.863s on the intermediate rubber before shaving a few seconds off and getting down to 1m38.482s.
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Vettel names the car which follows the capricious ‘Gina’
But unsurprisingly, rain master Max Verstappen and his impressive car control overhauled the German by 1.063s, but McLaren’s Fernando Alonso was hot on his heels with the second fastest time.
The intermediate compound definitely led the way as track conditions slightly got better. As the field upped the pace, Mercedes shot to the top of the timesheet with Valtteri Bottas leading Lewis Hamilton with a 1m34.174s.
Behind, Stoffel Vandoorne pipped his McLaren team mate for third. While the track appeared to be gradually drying out, few felt it was worth trying the slick tyre.
In the final minutes however, a big effort by Verstappen pushed the Red Bull driver to the top, but a slick-shod Vettel put everyone behind by over five seconds, posting a 1m26.067 to lead the pack.
With eight seconds covering the top-ten drivers, the session offered little indication of what could be in store for this afternoon’s qualifying showdown. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton remain the outright favourites for pole however.
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