Chinese GP: Free Practice #3 - Re-Cap & Times

CHINESE GP - FREE PRACTICE #3 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    The third and final practice session went along as scheduled as the weather had improved overnight. There was little to no fog in sight and the track was dry. Yesterday's FP1 was delayed and then later on FP2 was delayed as well and eventually canceled as the medical helicopter could not get to the local hospital in Shanghai due to the fog.

    Ferrari topped the session with Sebastian Vettel taking the top spot with a 1:33.336. Team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen was close behind in second with a 1:33.389. Bottas, Hamilton and Massa completed the top 5.

    Italian rookie, Antonio Giovinazzi is once again filling in for Pascal Wehrlein as Wehrlein is still unfit enough to race after his ROC injury prevented him from training before the Australian GP. This will be Giovinazzi's second race with Sauber and if he performs well, this could give Sauber good reason to consider saving a seat for him for the 2018 season.

    Jolyon Palmer and Marcus Ericsson suffered from spins during the session although no major damage was done to their cars Both were able to keep going in the session. Palmer ended up finishing 9th and Ericsson finished further down the order in 18th.

    During the session, Valtteri Bottas' T-Wing came loose and flew off of the car. This could cause a potential ban of the T-Wing altogether and this also comes after Haas was asked to remove and revise theirs in Melbourne as it was deemed unsafe.

TIMES:

1. Sebastian Vettel - 1:33.336 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany

2. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:33.389 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland

3. Valtteri Bottas - 1:33.707 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland

4. Lewis Hamilton - 1:33.879 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain

5. Felipe Massa - 1:34.773 / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil

6. Max Verstappen - 1:34.946 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands

7. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:35.092 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia

8. Lance Stroll - 1:35.182 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada

9. Jolyon Palmer - 1:35.192 / Renault-Renault / Great Britain

10. Carlos Sainz - 1:35.223 / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain

11. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:35.449 / Renault-Renault / Germany

12. Kevin Magnussen - 1:35.521 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark

13. Sergio Perez - 1:35.626 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico

14. Romain Grosjean - 1:35.680 / Haas-Ferrari / France

15. Daniil Kvyat - 1:35.804 / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia

16. Esteban Ocon - 1:35.811 / Force India-Mercedes / France

17. Fernando Alonso - 1:35.912 / McLaren-Honda / Spain

18. Marcus Ericsson - 1:36.063 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden

19. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:36.221 / McLaren-Honda / Belgium

20. Antonio Giovinazzi - 1:36.705 / Sauber-Ferrari / Italy*

* - Notes Giovinazzi is filling in for Pascal Wehrlein

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk

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