Practice 3 Report - Leading The Way

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton led the way in Free Practice 3, setting the fastest time of the session. Sebastian Vettel was second in his Ferrari but 0.696 seconds slower than Hamilton.

The ambient temperature at the start of the session was 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Centigrade.)

The line-up for the session was: Mercedes ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi. Sauber ‘‚    ‚  ‚ ¡‘‚     ‚ ‘‚    ®œ Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

Kvyat, on his out lap, reported that something was wrong with the engine. Then he went off and on the track at Turn 15.

Sauber drivers Nasr and Ericsson posted the first times: 1:33.301 and 1:33.851. Nasr then lowered his time to a 1:32.533.

12 minutes into the session, newcomer Sainz topped the times with a 1:31.755.

15 minutes into the session, Grosjean beat that with a 1:31.560.

17 minutes into the session, Verstappen topped Grosjean with a 1:31.446, but Grosjean responded with a 1:31.060.

20 minutes into the session, the Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams and McLaren drivers had yet to post a lap time.

21 minutes into the session, everybody was in the pits, and then Raikkonen took to the track. Rosberg soon joined him.

So far the drivers had all been using Pirelli's medium compound tires.

26 minutes into the session, Raikkonen turned a 1:30.283 only to have Rosberg beat that with a 1:29.364.

28 minutes into the session, Ricciardo ground to a halt just past the pits. The marshals pushed his car back to the pits.

Meanwhile other drivers were getting up to speed. Midway through FP3 the top six were: Rosberg, Bottas, Vettel, Raikkonen, Grosjean and Verstappen.

With 27 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton headed out and set a time of 1:29.128 on the medium tires to jump to the top of the timing screens. That was 0.876 of a second quicker than Bottas in third place.

With 20 minutes remaining in the session, Ricciardo was back in action.

With 18 minutes remaining in the session, Ericsson spun at Turn 12.

With 15 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg started a warm up lap on the soft tires. He was the only driver on the track until Ericsson joined him. Rosberg posted a 1:28.939.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, more drivers were now trying out the soft tires.

The order was: Rosberg, Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Raikkonen and Massa, and only Rosberg had set his time on the softs. Now the rest of drivers were on the soft tires.

With 6 minutes remaining in the session, Raikkonen took second place and Massa third.

With 5 minutes remaining in the session, Bottas grabbed second. Then Hamilton took the lead with a stunning 1:27.867.

With 3 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel was second and Rosberg third with Bottas fourth and Massa fifth. Rosberg was out of his car now, so there was no way he would set a better time.

The top 10 at the end of FP3 were: Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Bottas, Massa, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Maldonado, Sainz and Nasr.