Sebastian Vettel remained on top in the third practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix.
But Red Bull’s margin over their pursuers was much reduced in the final hour of practice before qualifying. Fernando Alonso split the two RB9s at the top of the times sheets and was just a tenth of a second slower than the championship leader.
Jean-Eric Vergne showed impressive pace in the Toro Rosso on hard and medium tyres. He ended the session fourth, less than half a second slower than Vettel around the seven-kilometre Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
There was some encouragement for McLaren as Jenson Button put his MP4-28 in sixth place. Sauber also had cause for cheer as Esteban Gutierrez ended the session seventh.
The quickest Lotus belonged to Romain Grosjean in eighth place. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen was tenth, the pair sandwiching Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes, which developed a problem at the end of the session. Rosberg was advised to cool the car as he returned to the pits.
team mate Lewis Hamilton had a harmless spin at the chicane during the session and ended up 12th quickest behind Daniel Ricciardo.
There were no repeats of the punctures seen during yesterday’s practice, which Pirelli blamed on debris.
Combined practice times
| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’55.636 | 1’49.331 | 1’48.327 | -1.004 | 52 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’55.198 | 1’50.510 | 1’48.432 | -2.078 | 46 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’58.929 | 1’49.390 | 1’48.533 | -0.857 | 62 |
| 4 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’57.084 | 1’50.253 | 1’48.776 | -1.477 | 60 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’56.863 | 1’50.164 | 1’48.788 | -1.376 | 52 |
| 6 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’57.281 | 1’51.195 | 1’48.882 | -2.313 | 55 |
| 7 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’55.954 | 1’51.644 | 1’48.930 | -2.714 | 62 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 2’03.176 | 1’50.149 | 1’48.967 | -1.182 | 63 |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’55.614 | 1’50.601 | 1’48.993 | -1.608 | 59 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1’59.441 | 1’50.318 | 1’49.008 | -1.31 | 61 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’56.770 | 1’51.447 | 1’49.035 | -2.412 | 55 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’57.358 | 1’50.751 | 1’49.046 | -1.705 | 54 |
| 13 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’55.373 | 1’50.629 | 1’49.122 | -1.507 | 56 |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1’56.858 | 1’51.568 | 1’49.177 | -2.391 | 61 |
| 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’55.224 | 1’50.611 | 1’49.226 | -1.385 | 51 |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | 1’55.518 | 1’50.536 | 1’49.417 | -1.119 | 55 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’56.110 | 1’50.972 | 1’49.478 | -1.494 | 63 |
| 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1’57.081 | 1’50.991 | 1’50.418 | -0.573 | 56 |
| 19 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1’53.251 | 1’51.416 | -1.835 | 44 | |
| 20 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1’57.887 | 1’53.157 | 1’51.800 | -1.357 | 55 |
| 21 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’59.209 | 1’53.482 | 1’52.221 | -1.261 | 57 |
| 22 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’58.600 | 1’54.418 | 1’53.507 | -0.911 | 44 |
| 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1’57.821 | 16 |
2013 Belgian Grand Prix
Image ?é?® Pirelli/LAT
Garion Higgs (@gazz)
24th August 2013, 11:10
Ferrari and RBR in particular look ominously quick.
Can anyone give me any reassurance that Mercedes are holding back?
Or is there simply no hope?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th August 2013, 11:15
@gazz They’ve had the fastest car over a single lap in eight out of ten races so far. It would be quite a surprise if they’re suddenly off by six tenths of a second and slower than McLaren, Toro Rosso and Sauber.
Garion Higgs (@gazz)
24th August 2013, 11:18
Exactly what I thought!
I have been watching F1 for years and just can’t figure out why they seem to have no pace.
Every time I saw any kind of onboard, especially from Lewis, the car just looked all over the place.
I hope they have something in reserve.
Shreyas Mohanty (@)
24th August 2013, 11:17
@gazz Merc were never pushing. Running some other schedules, maybe.
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
24th August 2013, 11:23
Yeah, I noticed that Merc were frequently downshifting through Eau Rouge. A car on the limit with low fuel can easily do that corner in 7th.
Shreyas Mohanty (@)
24th August 2013, 11:29
Yeah, even I wondered why! The fact that both drivers were doing so is even more mysterious.
Shreyas Mohanty (@)
24th August 2013, 11:16
That looks like a nice table. Will be interesting to see if Ferrari have actually closed the gap to RBR and Merc in qualifying.
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
24th August 2013, 11:16
Heres hoping. The whole of Mercedes title battle rests on this race. Don’t worry, I’ve told Grojean to take Vettel out on the 1st corner ;-)
Shreyas Mohanty (@)
24th August 2013, 11:19
He will need about $500,000 to do that. Wanna pool the costs members? :p
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
24th August 2013, 11:22
I’ll pass @shreyasf1fan ;)
Shreyas Mohanty (@)
24th August 2013, 11:25
@vettel1 I guess I will too. I am saving up for a PS4.
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
24th August 2013, 11:26
@sheyasf1fan
Yes, I’ll go look behind the sofa. Mind you, you could probably hit Neweys car with 1000 tonnes of TNT and it would survive AND handle better than before xD
Shreyas Mohanty (@)
24th August 2013, 11:30
@full-throttle-f1 That seems like a bit of an exaggeration, my friend. xD ;)
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
24th August 2013, 11:32
@shreyasf1fan
ok, 995 tonnes is more realistic :-)
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
24th August 2013, 11:25
I was astonished just how close the field was today. At one point I saw the top 18 (namely all cars except Caterham and Marussia) were seperated by .9 of a second. Considering it’s the longest track of the year, that’s quite extraordinary.
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
24th August 2013, 11:27
@jackysteeg
In the words of Pf Brian Cox “Its Amazin'”
panache (@panache)
24th August 2013, 11:44
I noticed that and thought the same. When it’s that closely matched car setup and driver performance are surely more significant.
erix
24th August 2013, 12:48
Thats why we called it = drivers circuit.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
24th August 2013, 11:46
I’m just interested now to see just how much Mercedes have been holding in reserve. Red Bull didn’t improve massively today which could also suggest they were holding back slightly, so maybe we’ve got a good qualifying battle on our hands (although now I’ve said that inevitably Mercedes will cruise to an easy pole).
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
24th August 2013, 11:48
Looking forward. Go Lewis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
iFelix (@ifelix)
24th August 2013, 12:51
I think Merc was definitely holding back, but Red Bull also traditionally sand bags a bit in practice. My money would still be on Merc for pole. But if Kimi is in top 3 I will be a happy bunny :)
iFelix (@ifelix)
24th August 2013, 14:17
I was right about Merc. I don’t foresee a repeat of Hungary for Hamilton
john
24th August 2013, 14:26
hamilton is incredible
karter22 (@karter22)
24th August 2013, 15:32
Well, this was a very good sign! Ferrari seem to have made a significant step forward! It just sucks they had a terrible qualy. I think they have their work cut out for them!