Practice 3 Report - Rosberg's Round 3

Nico Rosberg topped the times in the third free practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix, beating out his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

The ambient temperature five minutes before the start of the session was 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 142 degrees Fahrenheit (61 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 - Kevin Magnussen 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.

Bottas was the first driver out on the track as the 60-minute FP3 session got underway. Stevens set the first lap time with a 1:49.397.

7 minutes into the session, Nasr posted a 1:43.761.

8 minutes into the session, Kvyat clocked a 1:41.980. His teammate Ricciardo was second.

The drivers were all on Pirelli's hard compound tires at this stage of FP3.

10 minutes into the session, Nasr went off the track at Turn 11. Many drivers had yet to do a flying lap including the Mercedes and Williams teammates.

14 minutes into the session, Raikkonen complained over the radio that a Lotus driver had cut him off.

22 minutes into the session, the top six were: Kvyat, Ricciardo, Sainz, Verstappen, Grosjean and Maldonado as Rosberg left the pits.

24 minutes into the session, Merhi spun and continued at Turn 9 after sliding up on a curb. Shortly thereafter Rosberg turned a 1:40.392 on the hard tires and then Ricciardo did a 1:40.590 on the mediums.

Midway through FP3 the top six were: Rosberg, Vettel, Ricciardo, Massa, Bottas and Kvyat.

And Hamilton was now on a flying lap on the hard tires, setting a 1:41.017 that put him into fourth place.

With 23 minutes remaining in the session, Kvyat tried the mediums but was now back in seventh place.

With 21 minutes remaining in the session, quite a few drivers headed for the pits to get ready for their qualifying simulations on the medium tires.

With 17 minutes remaining in the session, Ricciardo, on the mediums, was the only driver on track. But he could only do a lap of 1:45

With 11 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg headed out. It was time for the drivers to use the mediums tires.

With 7 minutes remaining in the session, he set a time of 1:39.690. Massa grabbed second with a lap of 1:40.391.

With 5 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton set a 1:39.874, which put him second.

With 3 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel moved from sixth to fourth.

With 2 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton climbed out of his car.

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