Alonso back on top in final practice

F1 Grand Prix, GP Singapore, Marina Bay Street Circuit

Fernando Alonso continued to live up to Ferrari's expectations during FP3 at Singapore by topping the final practice session ahead of qualifying. Second fastest man this evening was Daniel Ricciardo while Nico Rosberg was third.

The session kicked off with the track temperature at 35°C and the air at 28°C. Wind is not a major player here this weekend but track conditions certainly are, proved by drivers complaining of terrible grip early on in the session. Most of this was obviously due to the rain that fell overnight, washing away some of the rubber that way laid down on the track during Friday's running.

The first half of the session is again used to do some more running on the soft tyres. Lots of minor mistakes dominated the early parts of the session while Lewis Hamilton continued to have problems with his car's balance. His issues resulted in an off-track moment halfway into the session, fortunately for him in a turn with some runoff, allowing him to rejoin the track without damage to his Mercedes F1 W05.

When drivers switched to the super softs, it was obvious that some continued to struggle getting the tyres into working range, similarly to the softs.

Unsurprisingly, the pace continued to be set by Mercedes, Red Bull Racing, Williams and Ferrari, with eventually Alonso getting the upper hand. The Spaniard got out of his car a minute from the end, similar to Rosberg. The latter though did not appear happy and swiftly walked to the pit wall to have a discussion with Andrew Shovlin and Paddy Lowe. Toto Wolff soon joined the party but minutes later said to the press this was a normal FP3 for Mercedes. Still, getting beaten by Alonso and Ricciardo will not bode well for the team's confidence for the remainder of the weekend.