Practice 3 Report - The tumbling grab job

With the track drying out and the lap times tumbling right at the end of FP3, Valtteri Bottas, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel all attained number 1 status only to have Lewis Hamilton grab the top spot away from them at the end.

The ambient temperature at the start of the session was 61 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Centigrade).

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 Roberto Merhi. Sauber Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

Button and Kvyat were the first out on track.

It had rained overnight and in the morning and, although the sun was now out, the track was still damp in places and the drivers were using wet and intermediate rain tires at this stage.

Verstappen and Sainz set lap times of 1:34.304 and 1:36.405, but they were the only ones to do a flying lap.

19 minutes into the session, Rosberg did a lap and radioed in that the engine was giving off strange oscillations.

20 minutes into the session, everybody was in the pits.

22 minutes into the session, Hamilton, on intermediates, headed out. Rosberg soon joined him.

28 minutes into the session, Sainz and Verstappen tried out the slick tires. Sainz clocked a 1:32.814 and then a 1:31.790. That was five to six seconds off the times set on a fully dried track.

Midway through FP3 the top two were: Sainz and Verstappen. No one else had set a time.

With 28 minutes remaining in the session, Nasr became the third driver to clock a lap time.

With 24 minutes remaining in the session, Sainz went quicker with a 1:29.852.

With 22 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel clocked a 1:28.673. Raikkonen beat that with a 1:28.490.

With 20 minutes remaining in the session, Raikkonen posted a 1:27.934. The lap times were falling as the track dried off. Vettel did a 1:26.537 and then a 1:25.799.

With 13 minutes remaining in the session, Massa took second with a 1:25.930. Then Rosberg went first with a 1:25.480.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, the order was: Rosberg, Vettel, Massa, Bottas, Hamilton and Raikkonen.

With 6 minutes remaining in the session, Maldonado took over second place using the soft slicks. Then Raikkonen went into second.

Bottas, Rosberg and Vettel all attained number 1 status only to have Hamilton grab it away from them at the end.

The top 10 were: Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Bottas, Massa, Maldonado, Raikkonen, Perez, Ericsson and Grosjean.