Practice 3 Report - Bet on Red

If the gamblers in Monaco take the lap times in Free Practice 3 into consideration, then they should bet on the red Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel winning the pole position in qualifying. Vettel was quickest in FP3, and faster than the silver Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

The ambient temperature at the start of the session was 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 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.

With Free Practice 2 rained out, the drivers had not been able to try out the Pirelli super soft slicks. So that was now a priority for Free Practice 3.

Ricciardo and Sainz were the first out in the 60-minute session.

Most drivers started the session on the soft compound Pirellis, but the Marussia drivers had the super softs fitted.

Perez set the early marker with a time of 1:21.129.

5 minutes into the session, Hamilton turned a 1:19.074. Then he set a time of 1:17.504 and a 1:17.021, all on the super softs.

11 minutes into the session, Rosberg was now second with a 1:17.913.

13 minutes into the session, Hamilton smashed in a 1:16.705 while Rosberg improved to a 1:17.271.

16 minutes into the session, Kvyat, Grosjean, Maldonado and Vettel rounded out the top six. Most drivers had yet to try the super softs.

17 minutes into the session, Raikkonen took over third place with a 1:18.406.

21 minutes into the session, the order was: Hamilton, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Kvyat and Button.

25 minutes into the session, Hulkenberg had a go on the super softs and jumped up to fourth and Button to fifth.

27 minutes into the session, Raikkonen hit the barriers and stopped just past turn 1 and that brought out the red flags.

31 minutes into the session, the green lights restarted FP3.

With 22 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel on the super softs did a 1:16.885. Then Verstappen took fifth place and had a spin.

With 15 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Grosjean, Sainz, Perez and Alonso

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg started another run on the super softs. Only three drivers were in the pits.

With 7 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg was now second with a 1:16.770.

With 4 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel claimed the top spot with a time of 1:16.143.

With 2 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg grabbed second with a 1:16.361. Hamilton could not improve his own time.

The top 10 at the end of FP3 were: Vettel, Rosberg, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Sainz, Raikkonen, Kvyat, Button, Verstappen and Grosjean.