Canadian GP 2015

JUNE 6, 2015

Practice 3 Report - Frantic Red

Nico Rosberg
© The Cahier Archive

 

Felipe Nasr crashed his Sauber late in Free Practice 3 and caused the session to be red flagged. That left just 12 minutes at the end of the session of frantic action for the drivers to try out qualifying simulations on Pirelli's super soft compound tires. But another red flag ended the action as Jenson Button stopped out on the track with seven minutes remaining and brought an end to FP3.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Centigrade). There was a zero percent chance of rain.

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.

Alonso's car was undergoing an engine change, so he had to sit out the session.

Maldonado was the first out. Raikkonen set a time for the rest to aim at with a lap in 1:20.409.

6 minutes into the session, Vettel beat that with a 1:20.092. Raikkonen responded with a 1:17.879.

12 minutes into the session, Vettel was now on top with a 1:17.543 while Raikkonen improved to a 1:17.681.

15 minutes into the session, the top six were: Vettel, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Kvyat, Perez and Verstappen.

19 minutes into the session, Rosberg headed out for the first time.

21 minutes into the session, Maldonado moved into second with a lap of 1:17.573.

23 minutes into the session, Hamilton left the garage as Rosberg took the lead with a 1:16.783. Bottas was second with a time of 1:17.053.

Nobody had tried the super soft Pirellis yet.

Midway through FP3 the top six were: Rosberg, Bottas, Massa, Vettel, Maldonado and Raikkonen.

With 28 minutes remaining in the session, Kvyat headed out on the super softs and moved into second with a lap of 1:17.062 behind Rosberg who now had a 1:16.762 next to his name. Raikkonen beat that with a 1:16.761.

With 23 minutes remaining in the session, Nasr slammed into the wall and brought out the red flags. "The tires are way too cold," he radioed.

The top 10 at this stage were: Raikkonen, Rosberg, Grosjean, Kvyat, Bottas, Massa, Vettel, Maldonado, Perez and Hulkenberg. Hamilton was down in 19th.

With 12 minutes remaining, the session was restarted. Almost all the drivers headed out including Alonso.

Rosberg posted a 1:15.660.

With 8 minutes remaining in the session, Button stopped at Turn 7 and the red flags came out again. The session was over.

The top six were: Rosberg, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Bottas, Perez and Kvyat. Hamilton was 20th.