Practice 3 Report - And it's 1, 2 and 3

Lewis Hamilton beat his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by 0.123 of a second in Free Practice 3 for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen ended up third and fourth.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes “ Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault “ Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes “ Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari “ Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda “ Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes “ Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault “ Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes “ Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari “ Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi. Sauber “ Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

The ambient temperature at the start of the session was 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Centigrade).

Rosberg had been quickest on Friday.

"It was a good day, as we were able to test a few new things in the first session," he said. "Times in the afternoon were not showing the real picture, as Lewis (Hamilton) drove in different engine modes to me. He was also very quick today and it looks like we will have a great battle again this weekend. Besides this, we also had to learn the track because there are some quite major changes with the new curbs."

Stevens was the first out for the 60-minute session. And it was Nasr who set the early fast time “ 1:14.960.

13 minutes into the session, Raikkonen turned a 1:14.373 followed by a 1:14.098.

16 minutes into the session, Vettel clocked a 1:14.062.

22 minutes into the session, Rosberg and Hamilton had done only one lap each.

27 minutes into the session, Rosberg went ahead with a time of 1:13.753. Then Hamilton did a 1:13.647.

Midway through FP3 the top six were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Verstappen and Bottas. But Rosberg soon reclaimed first place with a 1:13.324.

With 24 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton had a spin and continued at Turn 11. "The rear just gave out real quick," Hamilton said.

With 22 minutes remaining in the session, Kvyat was the first driver out on the soft Pirelli tires, and he claimed third spot on the timing screens.

With 15 minutes remaining in the session, all 20 drivers were in the pits getting ready for their runs on the soft tires.

With 14 minutes remaining in the session, Ricciardo was the first to go back out. And he promptly took second place with a 1:13.572.

With 8 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton stamped a claim for first with a 1:12.070. Rosberg then clocked a 1:12.193.

Nobody was going to beat those times.

The top 10 at the end of FP3 were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Perez, Maldonado and Verstappen.