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

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

    Sebastian Vettel excelled and took the top spot in the final practice session of the weekend, clocking in a 1:05.092. He was just slightly quicker than Lewis Hamilton who finished with a fastest time of 1:05.361. All eyes are going to be on the two following the incident in Baku. Vettel faced no further punishment from the FIA and while it's clear that his relationship with Hamilton has been damaged, the two are focusing on racing this weekend without any further clashes.

    Fernando Alonso ran into more trouble when he had to revert back to the Honda 'Spec 2' engine ahead of the session. Both Alonso and Vandoorne have been dealing with multiple engine component changes over the first half of the season and have already been racking up grid penalties at previous races. Alonso finished the session in 15th with a 1:06.599, while Vandoorne finshed in 13th with a 1:06.578.

    Lewis Hamilton had a brake disc failure towards the end of the session and it was clear after a bunch of smoke was seen coming from the front of the car. The bad luck is only multiplied by the fact he has a 5-Place-Grid-Penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.

    Carlos Sainz also dealt with mechanical issues when his Toro Rosso stopped just after turn 1 in the opening minutes of the session. The team fed him instructions over the radio to try and help him get the car started again, but it was no use. Marshals then brought the car back to the pit-lane and the mechanics got to work on the car. Sainz ended up getting back out later on and finished in 10th with a 1:06.284. Team-mate, Kvyat, finished just ahead of him in 9th with a 1:06.279.

TIMES:

1. Sebastian Vettel - 1:05.092 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany

2. Lewis Hamilton - 1:05.361 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain

3. Valtteri Bottas - 1:05.515 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland

4. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:05.611 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland

5. Max Verstappen - 1:05.784 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands

6. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:05.896 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia

7. Kevin Magnussen - 1:05.936 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark

8. Romain Grosjean - 1:06.015 / Haas-Ferrari / France

9. Daniil Kvyat - 1:06.279 / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia

10. Carlos Sainz - 1:06.284 / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain

11. Esteban Ocon - 1:06.374 / Force India-Mercedes / France

12. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:06.563 / Renault-Renault / Germany

13. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:06.578 / McLaren-Honda / Belgium

14. Jolyon Palmer - 1:06.595 / Renault-Renault / Great Britain

15. Fernando Alonso - 1:06.599 / McLaren-Honda / Spain

16. Lance Stroll - 1:06.776 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada

17. Felipe Massa - 1:06.865 / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil

18. Sergio Perez - 1:06.875 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico

19. Marcus Ericsson - 1:07.378 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden

20. Pascal Wehrlein - 1:07.468 / Sauber-Ferrari / Germany

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk

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