Practice 3 Report - Vettel goes fasest in Valencia

Sebastian Vettel (1:37.258) put his Red Bull at the top of the time sheet in the final session of free practice ahead of qualifying for the European GP.

Closest challengers to the world champion were the two Ferraris, with Fernando Alonso lapping in 1:37.678 and Felipe Massa in 1:37.840. Mark Webber's Red Bull (1:38.068) was fourth quickest, the team fixing some early session battery problems with the KERS system. Valencia is one of the tracks where KERS is most advantageous, with the benefit per lap reckoned to be around 0.35s.

Jenson Button (1:38.326) set the quickest McLaren time, ahead of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes (1:38.580) and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren (1:38.741). Michael Schumacher (1:38.799) was only five hundredths down with the second Mercedes, ahead of the Renaults of Vitaly Petrov (1:38.822) and Nick Heidfeld (1:39.113).

Sergio Perez (1:39.778) signalled his return to fitness with 12th fastest time in the first Sauber, 0.07s and two slots ahead of team mate Kamui Kobayashi.