Singapore GP: Free Practice #3 - RE-CAP & TIMES

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

    Sebastian Vettel bounced back from a difficult Friday to top the times in the final free practice session ahead of qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.

    The Ferrari driver dominated the session to finish more than half a second faster than championship rival Lewis Hamilton, who had to settle for third behind Kimi Raikkonen.

    Both Ferraris were out on the ultra-soft compound early in the session, with Vettel leading Raikkonen when they returned to the pits after the first runs. As the session wore on and the track rubbered in times began to tumble allowing Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes to come within two seconds of Vettel on the slower soft compound of tyres.

    Any hope of a tight end to the session was eliminated when Vettel returned to the track, lowering the benchmark to 1m38.054s and extending the gap to the rest of the field, including team-mate Raikkonen, who finished 0.4s off Vettel’s pace.

    Hamilton put on the ultrasoft compound in the final 20 minutes of the session but he could only manage third quickest, ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo.

    Max Verstappen spent the session struggling with his Renault power unit. He complained to the team about engine braking, which team boss Christian Horner claimed was a software issue. When asked for more specific feedback, Verstappen told the team “the product in the back of this car isn’t working like I want it”. He eventually finished sixth, a tenth of a second behind Ricciardo.

    Romain Grosjean took seventh ahead of the Force India duo and Fernando Alonso.

TIMES:

1. Sebastian Vettel - 1:38.054 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
2. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:38.416 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
3. Lewis Hamilton - 1:38.558 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain
4. Valtteri Bottas - 1:38.603 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
5. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:39.186 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia
6. Max Verstappen - 1:39.265 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
7. Romain Grosjean - 1:39.747 / Haas-Ferrari / France
8. Esteban Ocon - 1:40.073 / Racing Point Force India-Mercedes / France
9. Sergio Perez - 1:40.231 / Racing Point Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
10. Fernando Alonso - 1:40.254 / McLaren-Renault / Spain
11. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:40.450 / Renault-Renault / Germany
12. Kevin Magnussen - 1:40.559 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
13. Carlos Sainz - 1:40.591 / Renault-Renault / Spain
14. Pierre Gasly - 1:40.686 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France
15. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:40.798 / McLaren-Renault / Belgium
16. Charles Leclerc - 1:40.915 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco
17. Brendon Hartley - 1:41.562 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand
18. Sergey Sirotkin - 1:41.884 / Williams-Mercedes / Russia
19. Marcus Ericsson - 1:41.953 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
20. Lance Stroll - 1:42.220 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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