Vettel pulls ahead in final practice

F1 Grand Prix, GP Germany, Nürburgring

Sebastian Vettel went fastest today in final practice ahead of qualifying. The German was also fastest earlier on in the session on medium tyres. Nico Rosberg appears to be the closest competitor as Lewis Hamilton struggles with the balance of his Mercedes car.

Free practice three is usually centered around qualifying performance, but again this initially put a Mercedes in front. Nico Rosberg set the early pace on the medium tyre, but about halfway through the session was improved by both Red Bull Racing drivers. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile struggled badly with the balance of his car, reporting "I'm impossible to drive the car, I have huge oversteer". The team responded by various set-up changes and moving some weight rearward.

Before the first cars switch to soft tyres, Vettel is on top of the timesheet, ahad of Webber, Rosberg, Grosjean, Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen, Massa, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Button, Sutil, Di Resta, Perez, Bottas, Gutierez, Vergne, Maldonado, Pic, Van der Garde, Chilton and Bianchi.

Ferrari are the first to switch to the soft tyre with less than 12 minutes to go in the session. Alonso goes a little more than a second faster than on the mediums, posting the fastest time in 1:30.621. Rosberg and Webber beat that time while Massa went just 0.012s slower.

Vettel came out a little later and eventually ended up 6 tenths up on everybody.