Rosberg tops Vettel in FP3 at Barcelona
Nico Rosberg topped the final session ahead of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, edging out Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton in a highly competitive session.
Hamilton was lucky to escape from a spin early on in the session, but altogether that did not seem to have an effect on his performance.
Valtteri Bottas managed to get Williams back in the hunt, having been a bit more off the pace on Friday. The Finn set the fourth fastest time of the day, slightly more than 6 tenths down on Rosberg but ahead of Raikkonen, Ricciardo and team mate Felipe Massa.
Verstappen was again the fastest of the Toro Rosso's, topping Red Bull's Kvyat and his own team mate, Carlos Sainz in 10th.
McLaren Honda meanwhile appears to settle in the midfield with Button 11th and Alonso 14th. They seem to be in similar performances as the Sauber and Force India drivers, while Lotus were a bit behind in today's FP3 while one could expect them ahead of this midfield pack.
At the very back of the field, Will Stevens proved faster than Merhi in the Manor Marussia, even though both men were more than 5 seconds off the pace and more than 2 seconds off of 18th place.
Results
Pos. | .No. | .Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:26.021s | - | 19 |
2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:26.177s | +0.156s | 14 |
3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:26.222s | +0.201s | 10 |
4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:26.682s | +0.661s | 19 |
5 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:26.944s | +0.923s | 14 |
6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:27.048s | +1.027s | 19 |
7 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:27.109s | +1.088s | 19 |
8 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:27.132s | +1.111s | 18 |
9 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:27.313s | +1.292s | 7 |
10 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:27.809s | +1.788s | 17 |
11 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:27.938s | +1.917s | 17 |
12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:28.082s | +2.061s | 13 |
13 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:28.096s | +2.075s | 23 |
14 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:28.304s | +2.283s | 17 |
15 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:28.578s | +2.557s | 17 |
16 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:28.618s | +2.597s | 18 |
17 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:28.788s | +2.767s | 20 |
18 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:28.996s | +2.975s | 14 |
19 | 28 | Will Stevens | Marussia | 1:31.125s | +5.104s | 16 |
20 | 98 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia | 1:31.749s | +5.728s | 17 |