Hamilton to the fore in final practice

2015 Belgian Grand Prix third practice

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Lewis Hamilton led the way in the final practice session at Spa-Francorchamps, ending the hour almost half a second faster than team mate Nico Rosberg.

The Mercedes drivers headed the times at the end of an uneventful session, with their closest rivals Ferrari some six-tenths of a second adrift.

The two Red Bull drivers were separated by five five-hundredths of a second and, unlike most of their rivals, completed their qualifying simulation on the soft tyres much earlier in the session. Ricciardo’s best effort left him almost a second down on Hamilton.

Force India were the highest Mercedes customer team, Sergio Perez a strong fifth and Nico Hulkenberg eighth. The Williams pair completed the top ten.

Lotus left it until the final seconds to set their flying runs, and Romain Grosjean found himself delayed in traffic. He caught Raikkonen at the exit of the Curve Paul Frere and almost lost control of his car as he dodged around the Ferrari.

“Raikkonen is dangerous,” a furious Grosjean complained on the radio afterwards, “it’s very dangerous what he did to me – very, very dangerous”.

Grosjean ended the session 16th ahead of Jenson Button’s McLaren – Fernando Alonso failed to a set a time due to an exhaust problem – and the two Manors.

Pos. No. Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’48.984 15
2 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’49.482 0.498 19
3 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’49.629 0.645 17
4 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’49.864 0.880 19
5 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’49.866 0.882 15
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1’49.930 0.946 20
7 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1’49.980 0.996 19
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’50.000 1.016 15
9 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1’50.179 1.195 15
10 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’50.447 1.463 15
11 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Renault 1’50.552 1.568 20
12 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1’50.585 1.601 17
13 33 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 1’50.599 1.615 21
14 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1’50.690 1.706 17
15 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’51.054 2.070 20
16 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 1’51.187 2.203 18
17 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1’51.981 2.997 12
18 28 Will Stevens Manor-Ferrari 1’54.262 5.278 16
19 98 Roberto Merhi Manor-Ferrari 1’54.281 5.297 9

Third practice visual gaps

Lewis Hamilton – 1’48.984

+0.498 Nico Rosberg – 1’49.482

+0.645 Sebastian Vettel – 1’49.629

+0.880 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’49.864

+0.882 Sergio Perez – 1’49.866

+0.946 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’49.930

+0.996 Daniil Kvyat – 1’49.980

+1.016 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’50.000

+1.195 Valtteri Bottas – 1’50.179

+1.463 Felipe Massa – 1’50.447

+1.568 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’50.552

+1.601 Pastor Maldonado – 1’50.585

+1.615 Max Verstappen – 1’50.599

+1.706 Felipe Nasr – 1’50.690

+2.070 Marcus Ericsson – 1’51.054

+2.203 Romain Grosjean – 1’51.187

+2.997 Jenson Button – 1’51.981

+5.278 Will Stevens – 1’54.262

+5.297 Roberto Merhi – 1’54.281

Complete practice times

Pos Driver Car FP1 FP2 FP3 Fri/Sat diff Total laps
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’51.324 1’49.687 1’48.984 -0.703 62
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’51.082 1’49.385 1’49.482 +0.097 57
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’51.866 1’50.940 1’49.629 -1.311 61
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’51.478 1’50.461 1’49.864 -0.597 65
5 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’52.423 1’50.971 1’49.866 -1.105 56
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1’51.373 1’50.136 1’49.930 -0.206 53
7 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1’51.960 1’50.399 1’49.980 -0.419 55
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’52.614 1’50.461 1’50.000 -0.461 56
9 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1’52.511 1’51.250 1’50.179 -1.071 59
10 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’52.653 1’51.588 1’50.447 -1.141 63
11 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 1’50.489 1’51.187 +0.698 39
12 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Renault 1’52.421 1’51.037 1’50.552 -0.485 70
13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1’52.539 1’51.317 1’50.585 -0.732 48
14 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 1’52.158 1’51.117 1’50.599 -0.518 73
15 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1’52.640 1’50.928 1’50.690 -0.238 57
16 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’53.426 1’50.709 1’51.054 +0.345 54
17 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1’54.225 1’51.854 1’51.981 +0.127 42
18 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1’53.502 1’52.570 30
19 Jolyon Palmer Lotus-Mercedes 1’53.799 23
20 Will Stevens Manor-Ferrari 1’55.501 1’54.065 1’54.262 +0.197 49
21 Roberto Merhi Manor-Ferrari 1’56.086 1’54.253 1’54.281 +0.028 40

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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13 comments on “Hamilton to the fore in final practice”

  1. I missed the third practice… why alonso didn’t compete ? And why button was so slow ? Did he has any problems ?

    1. Yes, the problem is honda

    2. The answer for all your three questions: Honda.

    3. It says right in the article…

  2. As quick as the Ferraris …

    1. Thats what she said.

    2. In the Manor

  3. Interesting to note very modest gains so far this year. Hamilton’s best is just 0.2s up on the quickest from practice last year. Qualifying was wet.

    1. Which practice ?

      1. @nico21 All three.

    2. Hotter track surface doesn’t do good to the lap times.

  4. The “visual gaps” graph explains why Bernie views Manor as superfluous to the show and not worth the allocation from the revenue fund.

  5. Redbull seems to be the 3rd fastest car now. Somewhat, they have surpassed the Williams.

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