Singapore GP 2018
SEPTEMBER 15, 2018
Practice 3 Report - Bounce back
© RV Press
By Dan Knutson
Sebastian Vettel missed a chunk of track running on Friday night after he clipped the wall and damaged his Ferrari. But he bounced back on Saturday afternoon in his repaired car and posted the fastest lap time in Free Practice 3 for the Singapore Grand Prix.
"The bad obviously was the touch to the wall which made the session come to an end," Vettel said Friday. "We lost some time, not ideal, but nevertheless I think the feel that I had for the car was alright. I think we can improve from where we are so should be fine Saturday."
He and Ferrari were indeed fine, and fast, on Saturday afternoon.
The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari - Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen; Red Bull TAG Heuer - Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen; Racing Point Force India Mercedes - Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon; Williams Mercedes -Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin; McLaren Renault - Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne; Renault - Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz; Toro Rosso Honda - Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly; Haas Ferrari - Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; Sauber Ferrari - Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc.
Raikkonen was quickest on Friday, posting a 1:38.699 on Pirelli's hyper soft compound slicks.
Ericsson was the first out on the track on Saturday.
The ambient temperature at the start of the 60-minute session was 84 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Centigrade) as the drivers did their installation laps.
Vettel, in the repaired Ferrari, posted a 1:40.008 as he made up for the lost track time on Friday. Raikkonen was 0.004 of a second slower. They were on the ultra soft compound Pirellis. The other two tires available were the super soft and the hyper soft.
Several drivers reported the track was slower than yesterday.
Verstappen was in the pits as the Red Bull crew checked over his gearbox.
As the halfway mark approached the running order was rather eclectic - Vettel, Raikkonen, Ocon, Grosjean, Gasly, Bottas, Perez, Magnussen, Hartley and Leclerc. Only Verstappen had yet to clock a lap time.
Just past the midpoint of FP3 Vettel started a fast lap on the hyper soft tires and posted a 1:38.054. Other drivers were concentrating on race runs, so Vettel remained far ahead of the rest.
A few minutes later Raikkonen did a hyper run but was 0.362 of a second slower than his teammate.
Now the Mercedes drivers were trying the hyper soft Pirellis. But they were no match for the Ferrari drivers. Hamilton ended up third, 0.684 seconds back, and Bottas fourth, trailing by 0.725 seconds. Verstappen, complaining about his engine, was a distant fifth.
Hamilton and Bottas improved, but were still half a second behind.
More drivers were now doing their hyper soft runs. Grosjean grabbed fifth place.
With seven minutes remaining both Red Bull drivers had to do a fast lap. But then they both appeared on the hypers. Ricciardo moved up to fifth and Verstappen sixth - both off the expected Red Bull pace.
Everything remained fine for Vettel who remained fastest. At the end of FP3 the top 10 were: Vettel, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Bottas, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Grosjean, Ocon, Perez and Alonso.