Practice Three: Vettel claims US practice hat-trick

Sebatian Vettel topped the timesheets in Saturday's final practice in Austin which saw Lewis Hamilton take second and Fernando Alonso saved by a late charge

Practice Three begun in much the same way the previous two had with drivers flying off the track at Turn 19 even whilst on their installation laps. Jean-Eric Vergne was the early pace-setter as Toro Rosso went straight into the action with Daniel Ricciardo taking second behind his team-mate.

Vergne was overhauled by Nico Rosberg who in turn was beaten by Michael Schumacher. The seven-time World Champ posted a 1:39.483 to hold the P1 slot after the first 15 minutes of action. However, only seven drivers had set times.

There were early woes for Sergio Perez and Charles Pic as the faster Sauber driver attempted to find the gap that wasn't there down the inside of Turn Seven. Instead he tagged Pic, pushing the Marussia around before spearing it in the side. A shake of the head from their mechanics as both cars are damaged.

Back at the front the big boys came out to play with Jenson Button sliding into second place, 0.3s short of Rosberg's P1 time. He continued lapping to take first, 0.2s up on the German's time. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton worked his way up the timesheets from tenth to sixth and then to fourth while Sebastian Vettel was 17th on his first effort. He went on to improve to 15th and then 11th.

Button meanwhile lowered the benchmark time to a 1:37.659 while Hamilton climbed to second behind his team-mate before taking first off him by 0.046s. Vettel found some pace and slotted into third behind the McLaren duo.

Vergne was the first casualty of the session as he broke his front suspension when he hit a kerb. He was forced to park his Toro Rosso out on track with both front tyres pointing inwards.

Fernando Alonso had a late start to his morning as the Spaniard only put in his first lap time with 20 minutes remaining. As such he caught the yellow flags from Vergne' stricken car and despite his efforts struggled to move into the top 10. In fact, Alonso was pushing so hard he had several off track moments, which also ruined what could have been a solid lap on the medium tyres.

The final few minutes saw all the drivers swap to the medium compound which take several laps to heat up. But once he had heat in the rubber, Vettel jumped into the lead with a 1:36.490 while Hamilton took second off Pastor Maldonado and the very late-improving Alonso.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:36.490 18 laps
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:36.748 0.258 20 laps
03 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:37.001 0.511 21 laps
04 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.180 0.690 21 laps
05 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:37.247 0.757 24 laps
06 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:37.262 0.772 27 laps
07 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:37.298 0.808 18 laps
08 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:37.415 0.925 20 laps
09 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:37.495 1.005 20 laps
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:37.538 1.048 20 laps
11 Bruno Senna Williams 1:37.569 1.079 21 laps
12 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:37.760 1.270 21 laps
13 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:37.765 1.275 26 laps
14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:37.953 1.463 23 laps
15 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:38.547 2.057 23 laps
16 Paul di Resta Force India 1:38.653 2.163 22 laps
17 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:38.753 2.263 11 laps
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:39.689 3.199 12 laps
19 Timo Glock Marussia 1:40.407 3.917 23 laps
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:40.753 4.263 19 laps
21 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:41.011 4.521 19 laps
22 Charles Pic Marussia 1:41.466 4.976 19 laps
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:43.563 7.073 21 laps
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:44.043 7.553 23 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Practice Three: Hamilton leads McLaren 1-2

Lewis Hamilton topped the Abu Dhabi weekend's second McLaren 1-2 in a practice session that saw Sebastian Vettel have just six minutes of running

With the track temperature a blistering 46'C, Kamui Kobayashi was the first to get down to business with a 1:49.193 at the start of Saturday's final practice. The Sauber driver continued lapping on a free race track, lowering the benchmark to a 1:45.628.

The Japanese driver's run sparked of a flurry of activity while the track temperature fell by three degrees in the first 15 minutes of the session.

Kimi Raikkonen was the next to lead the way while his Lotus team-mate Romain Grosjean lined up behind him. But it was all change as Lewis Hamilton came flying through, setting fastest times in the first and third sectors on his way to a 1:44.264.

The McLaren driver lost out to Pastor Maldonado only to come back him the next lap while Michael Schumacher, who Hamilton will replace at Mercedes next season, climbing to third place. Hamilton had the benchmark time down to a 1:42.851 at the halfway mark although at that point Sebastian Vettel had not set a time.

Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso joined Hamilton at the top of the timesheets, however, the two chasers were already a second slower when Hamilton put his foot down and extended his advantage to 1.471s over Vettel's team-mate. Alonso was a further 0.015s adrift.

As for Vettel, with 20 minutes remaining he was still stuck in the pits without a time to his name as his Red Bull mechanics were bleeding his brakes. He finally ventured out with six minutes on the clock as his main rivals begun their soft tyre runs.

That saw Webber improve to third, Grosjean take fourth ahead of Maldonado and Hulkenberg. However, it was still a McLaren 1-2 as Hamilton upped his pace in first place while Button went quickest but remained second. Vettel came across the line third quickest, 0.484s down.

Times
01 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:42.130 18 laps
02 Jenson Button McLaren 1:42.420 0.290 17 laps
03 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:42.614 0.484 7 laps
04 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:42.743 0.613 18 laps
05 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:42.750 0.620 19 laps
06 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:43.015 0.885 18 laps
07 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:43.064 0.934 19 laps
08 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:43.133 1.003 15 laps
09 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:43.184 1.054 22 laps
10 Paul di Resta Force India 1:43.338 1.208 19 laps
11 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:43.480 1.350 17 laps
12 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:43.571 1.441 19 laps
13 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:43.593 1.463 20 laps
14 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:43.635 1.505 18 laps
15 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:44.010 1.880 21 laps
16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:44.025 1.895 17 laps
17 Bruno Senna Williams 1:44.071 1.941 19 laps
18 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:44.149 2.019 19 laps
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:45.301 3.171 21 laps
20 Timo Glock Marussia 1:45.879 3.749 19 laps
21 Charles Pic Marussia 1:46.036 3.906 18 laps
22 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:46.261 4.131 22 laps
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:46.554 4.424 20 laps
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:47.032 4.902 22 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Practice Three: Vettel secure the hat-trick

Sebastian Vettel edged Lewis Hamilton in final practice, a session that saw several drivers, including Sergio Perez, Mark Webber and Vitaly Petrov, smack the barriers

With the track temperature sitting at 33'C, Practice Three got underway with Kamui Kobayashi getting the ball rolling as he crossed the line with a 1:56.339 before losing out to his team-mate Sergio Perez, who was over three seconds quicker.

The runs from the Sauber drivers sparked a flurry of activity with Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Hulkenberg both having a turn at the front while there were problems for Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard missed out on the early running as his Ferrari are up on jacks as his team worked on the left side of the car.

Perez was the first to brush the barriers, hitting them with rear right of his Sauber. The Mexican driver - rather tentatively - headed back into the pits have damaged the car's wishbone.

Lewis Hamilton hit the front only to lose out to his team-mate Jenson Button. This started a brief McLaren battle with the duo trading blows before Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel got involved.

Timo Glock's practice came to a halt just before the halfway mark as stopped his Marussia down a slip road after complaining that his throttle was sticking.

Finally out on track Alonso shot to the top of the timesheets before he was overhauled by Sebastian Vettel, the first driver into the 1:49s. All times to date had been set on the harder of the two Pirelli compounds, the softs.

Bruno Senna was the first driver out on the super soft tyres and improved to second, 1.1s better than his previous best in what was a clear indication of the different in speed between the two tyres. Problems for Webber, who smacked the wall, causing a right rear puncture.

No such problems for Vettel, who put the super softs on for the final ten minutes and bettered his P1 time by 1.6s! Alonso and Massa moved up behind the German as they started their super soft tyres, prompting others to venture out on the red-branded tyres for the final few minutes of FP3.

Vitaly Petrov brought the session to a premature end as he crashed at the final corner, hitting the barrier not once but twice before his Caterham came to a halt in the pit lane entrance forcing race control to throw the red flags with two minutes remaining.

The drivers headed back into the pits, avoiding Petrov's car, and the clock counted down with Vettel assured of a third P1.

Times
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:47.947 15 laps
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:48.272 0.325 15 laps
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:48.623 0.676 11 laps
4 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:48.859 0.912 16 laps
5 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:48.865 0.918 17 laps
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:49.458 1.511 13 laps
7 Paul di Resta Force India 1:49.684 1.737 15 laps
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:49.699 1.752 16 laps
9 Bruno Senna Williams 1:49.715 1.768 14 laps
10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:49.981 2.034 14 laps
11 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:50.110 2.163 12 laps
12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:50.524 2.577 10 laps
13 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:50.664 2.717 16 laps
14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:50.777 2.830 15 laps
15 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:50.840 2.893 15 laps
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:51.012 3.065 15 laps
17 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:51.059 3.112 17 laps
18 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:51.272 3.325 10 laps
19 Charles Pic Marussia 1:52.290 4.343 16 laps
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:53.781 5.834 12 laps
21 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:54.326 6.379 14 laps
22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:54.421 6.474 14 laps
23 Timo Glock Marussia 1:54.630 6.683 9 laps
24 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:54.875 6.928 14 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Practice Three: Vettel sets the pace

Sebastian Vettel was the man to beat on Monza, as he pipped Mark Webber to the P1 slot in the final seconds of practice

Despite many predicting that Monza could be a bogey track for the Red Bulls, the defending Champ proved to have the better pace on the both the medium and soft Pirelli compounds.

With drivers focussing on longer runs in the first 40 minutes of the session, Vettel topped the timesheets with a 1:24.000, putting him just ahead of Webber.

And when they all switched to the soft compound in the latter stages, it was again Vettel who had the better pace.

The German posted a 1:23.170 to finish 0.364s ahead of his team-mate Webber while Felipe Massa was third ahead of the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Report: With the sun out and the track temperature at 29'C, the Italian GP's final practice session got underway with Jerome D'Ambrosio leading out the field for their installation laps. The Belgian, driving a heavily revised Virgin MVR02, also set the first time of the morning, a 1:32.578.

Heikki Kovalainen and then Jarno Trulli led the way before Michael Schumacher crossed the line with a 1:26.943. Nico Rosberg took over from Schumacher at the front with Jenson Button and Mark Webber second and third. Schumacher put in a 360' at the first chicane, hitting the controversial speed bumps.

Lewis Hamilton slotted into third place on his first attempt while Button improved to first before losing it to Webber. Sebastian Vettel was fifth before two fastest sector times saw him jump to the front with a 1:24.000.

Halfway through the session, Fernando Alonso emerged in his 150° Italia, which was fitted with a higher downforce front wing. The Spaniard's first time was a 1:26.027, two seconds off Vettel's time. But by the end of his first run he was P7 with Felipe Massa just ahead.

Rosberg headed out on the softer option Pirellis and put his Merc GP into first place, 0.125s up on Vettel. Sergio Perez, also on the options, improved to ninth while his team-mate Kamui Kobayashi visited the gravel at the second Lesmo. Schumacher climbed from 14th to third on the soft tyres.

Webber overhauled Schumacher only for the Merc GP driver to bounce right back while Alonso improved to fourth. With almost everyone out on the softs for the final few minutes, Button moved up to second, Webber went quickest, Massa took second, Hamilton sixth, Webber bettered his time, Vettel moved up to third before going straight on at the chicane, Hamilton took third off him and Vettel went quickest with a 1:23.170, 0.364s up on Webber.

Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m23.170 18 laps
02. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:23.534 + 0.364 19 laps
03. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:23.668 + 0.498 14 laps
04. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.741 + 0.571 17 laps
05. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.787 + 0.617 16 laps
06. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.875 + 0.705 22 laps
07. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:24.114 + 0.944 20 laps
08. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:24.133 + 0.963 14 laps
09. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:24.543 + 1.373 21 laps
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:24.581 + 1.411 22 laps
11. Bruno Senna Renault 1:24.853 + 1.683 20 laps
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:24.889 + 1.719 19 laps
13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:24.948 + 1.778 22 laps
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.261 + 2.091 21 laps
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:24.319 + 2.149 19 laps
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.426 + 2.256 19 laps
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.439 + 2.269 22 laps
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:25.539 + 2.369 19 laps
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:27.328 + 4.158 19 laps
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:27.491 + 4.321 21 laps
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:28.186 + 5.016 23 laps
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1:28.441 + 5.271 22 laps
23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:28.962 + 5.792 17 laps
24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1:30.316 + 7.146 16 laps

Source: Planet-F1