Sebastian Vettel headed the times in the final practice session for the German Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver was over two-thirds of a second quicker than any other driver after the final 60 minutes of running.
He and team mate Mark Webber had been slowly-matched earlier in the proceedings while lapping on the medium tyres. But after switching to the soft tyres for the final run Webber improved his time by a second – less than most of the front-running drivers.
That put Webber 18 thousandths of a second behind Nico Rosberg, who had gained 1.4 seconds after putting the soft tyres on.
But Vettel characteristically left his final run until the dying moments and produced a 1’29.517 to put himself well clear of the chasing pack. As he returned to the pits he found even more time in the first sector.
The Ferrari pair were fourth and fifth, separated by less than two hundredths of a second. They demoted Romain Grosjean, who had been fourth before the final runs, the Lotus driver complaining about traffic after being released from the pits behind a Caterham.
Lewis Hamilton struggled throughout the session, complaining about instability at the rear end of his Merceded. He ended up 1.2 seconds off the pace.
The Williams drivers languished in 17th and 18th. Before the session began Williams had a scare when a KERS unit failed on Pastor Maldonado’s car while it was in the garage.
“The resulting smoke was contained quickly and efficiently by the team and circuit fire marshals,” said the team in a statement. “No personnel were injured.”
“The team are currently investigating the cause of the failure, and assessing any further damage to Pastor’s car.”
Jules Bianchi returned to action following his illness yesterday and ended the session 20th, over a second quicker than his team mate.
Combined practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’33.213 | 1’30.416 | 1’29.517 | -0.899 | 78 |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’31.973 | 1’30.651 | 1’30.193 | -0.458 | 82 |
3 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’32.789 | 1’30.683 | 1’30.211 | -0.472 | 81 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’31.056 | 1’30.621 | -0.435 | 57 | |
5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’33.065 | 1’31.059 | 1’30.639 | -0.42 | 76 |
6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1’32.956 | 1’30.848 | 1’30.671 | -0.177 | 68 |
7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’31.754 | 1’31.304 | 1’30.744 | -0.56 | 80 |
8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’33.260 | 1’30.843 | 1’30.781 | -0.062 | 77 |
9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’33.810 | 1’32.495 | 1’30.966 | -1.529 | 79 |
10 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’32.822 | 1’31.824 | 1’31.009 | -0.815 | 68 |
11 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’33.139 | 1’31.568 | 1’31.326 | -0.242 | 83 |
12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’34.437 | 1’32.762 | 1’31.405 | -1.357 | 88 |
13 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’33.493 | 1’31.797 | 1’31.733 | -0.064 | 79 |
14 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’33.901 | 1’31.855 | 1’31.898 | +0.043 | 84 |
15 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’33.976 | 1’32.055 | 1’31.855 | -0.2 | 93 |
16 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | 1’33.456 | 1’32.086 | 1’31.855 | -0.231 | 77 |
17 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1’34.025 | 1’32.880 | 1’31.969 | -0.911 | 76 |
18 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1’34.200 | 1’32.879 | 1’32.036 | -0.843 | 80 |
19 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1’35.674 | 1’33.695 | 1’33.230 | -0.465 | 80 |
20 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’34.017 | 1’33.470 | -0.547 | 32 | |
21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1’36.078 | 1’33.804 | 1’33.964 | +0.16 | 84 |
22 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’35.987 | 1’34.667 | 1’34.683 | +0.016 | 78 |
23 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’37.459 | 21 |
2013 German Grand Prix
Image © Red Bull/Getty
Kingshark (@kingshark)
6th July 2013, 11:16
I hope that a volcano erupts nearby Nurburgring. Maybe that would warm up the circuit enough that Ferrari could finally get heat in the prime tyres.
Tayyib (@m0nzaman)
6th July 2013, 11:43
Lol I wish that would happen, but vettel sent message to Mecedes its going to be some battle for pole position.
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
6th July 2013, 11:19
Insane lap from Vettel. Hope he’ll finally trumph in front of his home crowd.
legacy F1 (@jason12joy)
6th July 2013, 11:19
and that’s it ………pole,win,fastest lap-sebastian vettel!!!!!!!!!
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
6th July 2013, 11:20
don’t forget world championship :-) lol
legacy F1 (@jason12joy)
6th July 2013, 11:24
ahhhhhhh….. u got that one :D
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
6th July 2013, 11:48
People were saying exactly the same thing about Lewis Hamilton after the first practice session …
George (@george)
6th July 2013, 11:22
Man, it’s really hard to see past Vettel for predictions, but he usually sucks at the Nurburgring…
Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
6th July 2013, 11:22
Of course Vettel set the quickest time, the track would have been warm and rubbered in after every car except his driving on it for the the 10 mins prior. Credit to him, he has the ability to do that. RedBull, Merc, Ferrari, Lotus, Force India I’m predicting for top 10. It’s good to see the Saubers looking competitive, Mclaren, time for a re-structure, bring back Ron
Shreyas Mohanty (@)
6th July 2013, 11:25
Any link for the full stint times in p3? How is red bull’s race pace as compared to ferrari and lotus?
ka (@ka12)
6th July 2013, 11:45
Normally, teams simulate race pace in FP2, in FP3, they usually focus more on single run.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
6th July 2013, 11:25
Both Toro Rosso drivers and Sergio Perez have set the same best time so far – 1’31.855. Jerez ’97, anyone?
Stefanauss (@stefanauss)
6th July 2013, 11:34
It’s not mentioned in your article so I was probably misinformed, but I read that what happened in Jerez 1997 was because of a glitch in the time system. Is it true or not?
Starbuck (@starbuck)
6th July 2013, 12:05
If you call Bernie trying to create the most possible thrilling finale a “glitch in the system”, then … yes ;)
That’s about the only rumor I heard about that.
I’m still sad that, thanks to this sensation at the front, Damon never really got credit for a brillant, brillant qualifying lap that was even better than the one he sat in Hungary that year – 0.058s missing and he would’ve put that Arrows on pole.
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
6th July 2013, 12:08
+1 people think that Damon was a bad driver
Starbuck (@starbuck)
6th July 2013, 14:49
I would love to see how history would’ve unfolded if some things would have worked out a little different:
– He had a real shot a the title in his first full season in 93 if it wasn’t for all the mechanical failures.
– He could have been the champ in 94 without the broken wishbone.
– If he had signed the McLaren contract for 97, he could have taken those 2 Häkkinen titles.
– After all of the above, every team would have wanted him
So, with a little more luck and few better business decisions, Damon could have been a 5+ times WDC.
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
6th July 2013, 11:27
@gazz We’ll see; can’t wait to watch my BBC coverage with Suzi and Eddie and I love the fact that they have a half hour preview and 5 minutes after the race… oh wait… it isn’t live, does the program even last half an hour?, I think they have to get Bargain Hunt in… :-)
George (@george)
6th July 2013, 12:13
@full-throttle-f1 Not sure who you’re replying to, I’ve only just noticed that we have to wait til 6 to see the quali highlights though, guess I’ll be in news avoidance mode for a few hours :(
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
6th July 2013, 12:29
I know that really annoys me. Can’t check the news for the next 5 and a bit hours lol
Yoshisune (@yobo01)
6th July 2013, 11:40
It’s looking good for Sauber. They seem to be faster than Force India, Mclaren and Toro Rosso. Their long run pace yesterday was promising, too. I hope they’ll get a good result tomorrow, I feel they deserve it.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
6th July 2013, 12:36
Fingers crossed for an excellent result for Sauber and the Hulk….it would be great for them, esp given the team’s current financial difficulties…