Rosberg edges Hamilton for top time by thousandths

2015 Mexican Grand Prix third practice

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Nico Rosberg ended the final practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix just a few thousandths of a second ahead of his team mate.

Rosberg’s 1’21.083 – the best time of the weekend so far – was just 14 thousandths of a second faster than Lewis Hamilton’s best effort.

Having been the last driver to set a time, Hamilton told his team he felt he hadn’t done enough running as he completed his medium tyre programme. However on his soft tyre run he went off at turn four and was later told to make way for his team mate after his team detected a vibration on his car.

Mercedes’ rivals were close behind: Daniel Ricciardo was one tenth of a second slower on the soft tyre and Sebastian Vettel was a further tenth of a second behind. Next came Daniil Kvyat, following a harmless spin in the middle of the session.

Williams and Force India had both their drivers inside the top ten along with Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Toro Rosso. His team mate Max Verstappen went wide at turn 12 – a frequent trouble spot – while on course to improve his best time.

Kimi Raikkonen managed just four laps before a problem developed with his power unit, forcing the Ferrari driver to stop on track with smoke coming from the rear of his car. Jenson Button’s problem-filled weekend also continued – he reported problems recharging his battery and pitted for good soon after practice began.

Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
16Nico RosbergMercedes1’21.08323
244Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’21.0970.01423
33Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’21.2010.11821
45Sebastian VettelFerrari1’21.2940.21124
526Daniil KvyatRed Bull-Renault1’21.5300.44727
611Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’21.6030.52027
777Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes1’21.7720.68926
855Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso-Renault1’21.7750.69228
919Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’21.9450.86227
1027Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’22.0100.92725
1133Max VerstappenToro Rosso-Renault1’22.0390.95631
1213Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Mercedes1’22.0420.95921
138Romain GrosjeanLotus-Mercedes1’22.1841.10124
149Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’22.8711.78830
1514Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda1’23.0651.98226
1612Felipe NasrSauber-Ferrari1’23.0671.98423
177Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’24.6483.5654
1828Will StevensManor-Ferrari1’25.6544.57120
1953Alexander RossiManor-Ferrari1’28.1767.0938
2022Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Honda1’29.3368.2534

Third practice visual gaps

Nico Rosberg – 1’21.083

+0.014 Lewis Hamilton – 1’21.097

+0.118 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’21.201

+0.211 Sebastian Vettel – 1’21.294

+0.447 Daniil Kvyat – 1’21.530

+0.520 Sergio Perez – 1’21.603

+0.689 Valtteri Bottas – 1’21.772

+0.692 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’21.775

+0.862 Felipe Massa – 1’21.945

+0.927 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’22.010

+0.956 Max Verstappen – 1’22.039

+0.959 Pastor Maldonado – 1’22.042

+1.101 Romain Grosjean – 1’22.184

+1.788 Marcus Ericsson – 1’22.871

+1.982 Fernando Alonso – 1’23.065

+1.984 Felipe Nasr – 1’23.067

+3.565 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’24.648

+4.571 Will Stevens – 1’25.654

+7.093 Alexander Rossi – 1’28.176

+8.253 Jenson Button – 1’29.336

Combined practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2FP3Fri/Sat diffTotal laps
1Nico RosbergMercedes1’27.1961’21.5311’21.083-0.44878
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’27.7231’21.9611’21.097-0.86483
3Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’27.1851’21.8681’21.201-0.66777
4Sebastian VettelFerrari1’26.8861’21.9841’21.294-0.6987
5Daniil KvyatRed Bull-Renault1’26.2951’21.7761’21.530-0.24681
6Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’27.5811’23.5971’21.603-1.99479
7Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes1’27.3031’22.7211’21.772-0.94980
8Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso-Renault1’27.4101’23.3641’21.775-1.589106
9Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’27.6951’23.2891’21.945-1.34483
10Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’29.0991’23.2901’22.010-1.2876
11Max VerstappenToro Rosso-Renault1’25.9901’22.039-3.95171
12Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Mercedes1’28.5591’23.3631’22.042-1.32175
13Romain GrosjeanLotus-Mercedes1’23.6141’22.184-1.4350
14Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’26.2951’22.3991’24.648+2.24973
15Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’28.4981’24.5331’22.871-1.66291
16Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda1’30.0721’22.9931’23.065+0.07279
17Felipe NasrSauber-Ferrari1’28.5791’23.4301’23.067-0.36387
18Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Honda1’32.0911’23.1091’29.336+6.22738
19Will StevensManor-Ferrari1’32.8661’26.9681’25.654-1.31459
20Alexander RossiManor-Ferrari1’30.6191’25.9401’28.176+2.23660
21Jolyon PalmerLotus-Mercedes1’28.71124

Author information

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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2 comments on “Rosberg edges Hamilton for top time by thousandths”

  1. Yes (@come-on-kubica)
    31st October 2015, 17:29

    Haven’t watched any of the free practice sessions, but where have Red Bull come from with this pace?

    1. A combination of the higher altitude and Red Bull’s superior high-downforce aero package I think

Comments are closed.