British GP 2015

JULY 4, 2015

Practice 3 Report - Trading Places

Lewis Hamilton, British GP 2015
© The Cahier Archive

 

Nico Rosberg was fastest in FP1 and FP2, but his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton traded places with him to be the quickest driver in FP3.

The ambient temperature at the start of the session was 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 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.

Grosjean and Merhi were the first drivers out on the track for the 60-minute session. Raikkonen set the early fast lap at 1:36.718. Alonso was 0.005 of a second slower.

9 minutes into the session, Grosjean clocked a 1:36.485. Alonso beat that with a 1:36.101. Then Massa did a 1:35.460, and Bottas clocked a 1:35.082.

13 minutes into the session, the Mercedes drivers had yet to set a lap time.

14 minutes into the session, Vettel took second with a 1:35.364. He then improved to a 1:34.932.

19 minutes into the session, Rosberg headed out. Hamilton followed him a few moments later.

24 minutes into the session, Rosberg clocked a 1:34.436. Hamilton beat that with a 1:34.399.

27 minutes into the session, Rosberg set a 1:33.731.

30 minutes into the session, the order was: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kvyat, Vettel, Ricciardo, Bottas, Sainz, Verstappen and Massa. Then Hamilton went ahead with a 1:33.333.

With 15 minutes remaining in the session, none of the top 10 had tried the medium tires.

With 13 minutes remaining in the session, all the drivers were in the pits.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, everybody was still in the garage, and then Bottas headed out.

With 8 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton left the garages. The rest soon joined him.

Hamilton set a 1:32.917, and Raikkonen a 1:33.692.

With 2 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg headed out for another run. Everybody was on track except Alonso. Rosberg had been third, but his lap of 1:33.469 put him second.

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