Practice 3 Report - The Third Man

Mercedes teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were, naturally, quickest in Free Practice 3. But the man the fans had their eyes on was hometown hero Felipe Massa who as third fastest in his Williams.

The ambient temperature at the start of the FP3 session was 71 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Centigrade.) The humidity was 69 percent.

The 18 car line-up was as follows: Red Bull Renault‘‚  ® Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo; Mercedes ‘‚  ® Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg; Ferrari ‘‚  ® Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen; Lotus Renault ‘‚  ® Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado; McLaren Mercedes‘‚  ® Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen; Force India Mercedes ‘‚  ® Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez; Sauber Ferrari ‘‚  ® Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez; Toro Rosso Renault ‘‚  ® Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat; Williams Mercedes ‘‚  ® Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.

Maldonado was the first out, followed by Grosjean and Bottas.

Everybody was on Pirelli's medium compound slicks.

Vergne clocked the first lap time ‘‚  ® a 1:16.838 ‘‚  ® Perez the second, a 1:17.010. Then Vergne improved to a 1:15.117.

Vergne was on the move, clocking a 1:13.993.

11 minutes into the session, Kvyat beat that with a 1:13.479. Most of the top drivers had yet to set a time.

12 minutes into the session, Magnussen topped the list with a 1:13.016.

Hulkenberg was complaining about the brakes on his Force India. The team informed him that it would take 30 minutes to replace the brakes.

14 minutes into the session, Bottas climbed to the front with a time of 1:12.892. Magnussen responded with a 1:12.729.

17 minutes into the session, Hamilton had a brake lock up and half spin into Turn 1. Meanwhile, Massa was now fastest at 1:12.070.

19 minutes into the session, Vergne went for a drive on the escape road off of Turn 6.

Now Massa posted a 1:11.559.

21 minutes into the session, Raikkonen claimed second with a 1:11.946.

24 minutes into the session, Ricciardo did his first flying lap and moved from last to fifth. Then he claimed fourth, then third.

Midway through FP3 the top six were: Massa, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Bottas, Kvyat, and Alonso. Hamilton and Rosberg were 18th and 17th respectively.

With 28 minutes remaining in the session, Maldonado, using the soft tires, popped up in fourth and Rosberg to ninth.

With 22 minutes remaining in the session, Bottas grabbed second place with 1:11.718. Massa was first with his 1:11.559, and Raikkonen third with his 1:11.946. Hamilton was still last.

With 17 minutes remaining in the session, Alonso had a go on the softs and went to the front with a lap of 1:11.399.

With 14 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg, who was 12th, started his soft run. He slammed in a 1:10.446.

Raikkonen's run on soft tires yielded second place with a 1:11.316.

With 12 minutes remaining in the session, Ricciardo grabbed that second with a 1:11.188.

With 11 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton, last, headed out on softs. His time of 1:10.560 put him second.

With 9 minutes remaining in the session, the top six were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Alonso and Massa.

With 8 minutes remaining in the session, Bottas, seventh, moved to third. Then Massa claimed third.

Now the order was: Rosberg, Hamilton, Massa, Bottas, Ricciardo and Button.

With 2 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton was on a flier, but he was slow in the middle sector and could not improve on his time.

The top 10 at the end of FP3 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Massa, Bottas, Ricciardo, Button, Raikkonen, Alonso, Magnussen and Kvyat.