The Mercedes drivers ended final practice for the Spanish Grand Prix with just a tenth of a second in hand over Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari.
Nico Rosberg lowered the best time of the weekend to a 1’23.078 halfway through the session. He wasn’t able to beat it with his final run on soft tyres having been forced back into the pits to have a problem investigated on his power unit.
Team mate Lewis Hamilton was second-fastest, his final effort bringing him within a tenth of a second of Rosberg. Rosberg led Hamilton by four-tenths of a second after their first runs on soft tyres, Hamilton running wide in the high-speed Campsa corner.
At this point Vettel was 1.1 seconds further back after Ferrari did their first run on medium tyres. Vettel owned up to losing time in the final sector. For his final effort he put soft tyres on and set the quickest time in the first two sectors of the lap. However Mercedes had enough in hand in the final sector to confine Vettel to third.
The other Ferrari ended practice in sixth place after Kimi Raikkonen caught traffic at the end of his quickest lap, leaving him eight-tenths of a second off Vettel.
The two red cars were separated by the two Red Bulls, headed by the team’s new driver Max Verstappen. Ricciardo emulated Hamilton’s error at turn nine during his quickest run.
Valtteri Bottas was the quickest Williams in seventh place, followed by Sergio Perez in the upgraded Force India. A varied top ten also included Daniil Kvyat, the quickest of the two Toro Rosso drivers, and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.
Romain Grosjean was 14th in his Haas, but ended the session complaining about being forced wide by Kevin Magnussen.
Third practice visual gaps
Nico Rosberg – 1’23.078
+0.126 Lewis Hamilton – 1’23.204
+0.147 Sebastian Vettel – 1’23.225
+0.641 Max Verstappen – 1’23.719
+0.738 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’23.816
+1.032 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’24.110
+1.278 Valtteri Bottas – 1’24.356
+1.394 Sergio Perez – 1’24.472
+1.475 Daniil Kvyat – 1’24.553
+1.477 Fernando Alonso – 1’24.555
+1.507 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’24.585
+1.543 Felipe Massa – 1’24.621
+1.617 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’24.695
+1.903 Romain Grosjean – 1’24.981
+2.022 Kevin Magnussen – 1’25.100
+2.052 Esteban Gutierrez – 1’25.130
+2.298 Jolyon Palmer – 1’25.376
+2.305 Felipe Nasr – 1’25.383
+2.323 Marcus Ericsson – 1’25.401
+3.019 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’26.097
+3.173 Rio Haryanto – 1’26.251
Complete practice times
| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’24.454 | 1’23.922 | 1’23.078 | -0.844 | 84 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’24.611 | 1’24.641 | 1’23.204 | -1.407 | 71 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’23.951 | 1’25.017 | 1’23.225 | -0.726 | 73 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’25.585 | 1’25.375 | 1’23.719 | -1.656 | 70 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’25.416 | 1’25.194 | 1’23.816 | -1.378 | 71 |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’24.089 | 1’24.176 | 1’24.110 | +0.021 | 62 |
| 7 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’25.672 | 1’25.708 | 1’24.356 | -1.316 | 80 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’27.064 | 1’25.437 | 1’24.472 | -0.965 | 56 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’26.583 | 1’26.375 | 1’24.553 | -1.822 | 78 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’26.243 | 1’25.342 | 1’24.555 | -0.787 | 62 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’26.938 | 1’25.453 | 1’24.585 | -0.868 | 77 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’26.186 | 1’26.491 | 1’24.621 | -1.565 | 83 |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’26.078 | 1’25.131 | 1’24.695 | -0.436 | 79 |
| 14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’27.258 | 1’25.899 | 1’24.981 | -0.918 | 63 |
| 15 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’27.610 | 1’25.893 | 1’25.051 | -0.842 | 52 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1’26.576 | 1’26.244 | 1’25.100 | -1.144 | 82 |
| 17 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas-Ferrari | 1’27.283 | 1’28.205 | 1’25.130 | -2.153 | 44 |
| 18 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’26.770 | 1’25.376 | -1.394 | 29 | |
| 19 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’27.253 | 1’27.812 | 1’25.383 | -1.87 | 89 |
| 20 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’27.392 | 1’28.501 | 1’25.401 | -1.991 | 90 |
| 21 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor-Mercedes | 1’28.084 | 1’26.960 | 1’26.097 | -0.863 | 82 |
| 22 | Rio Haryanto | Manor-Mercedes | 1’29.052 | 1’27.252 | 1’26.251 | -1.001 | 92 |
2016 Spanish Grand Prix
- Ricciardo still coming to terms with losing Spain win
- Landslide Driver of the Weekend win for Verstappen
- Verstappen win flummoxes Predictions players
- Praise for surprising Spanish GP – and new winner Verstappen
- Top ten pictures from the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
14th May 2016, 11:05
What’s with Ted Kravitz and being happy Rosberg ran into trouble? I rarely watch on SKy but whenever I do I can’t help but notice every little thing where they praise Hamilton and try to take a cheap shot at Rosberg (and several other drivers).
Mach1 (@mach1)
14th May 2016, 11:12
Never liked ted kravits or his insights/commentry. He comes across as smarmy, arrogent and someone who thinks he is an F1 driver just because he sits in the pit lane.
He always tries too hard to be clever and witty but he just comes across as trying too hard.
To me anyway….
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
14th May 2016, 12:08
@mach1 I agree. That’s how Ted rose to prominence, that’s how sky is selling f1, Herbert does the same low level journalistic work.
Anyhow I don’t infer what is inferred above. I would like to point out that Vettel did mistakes in both of his S3’s not just the first and Hamilton who did run slightly wide at campsa, didn’t lose the lap there he lost it on s3, the slowest part of the lap, where it seems both haven’t got the right balance to string the hideous chicane together.
John H (@john-h)
14th May 2016, 12:23
I agree too. Very… ‘look at me I’m really chummy with my mates… that don’t consider me a mate at all.’
Park
14th May 2016, 12:24
Croft is a much nicer individual for me, really.
bosyber (@bosyber)
14th May 2016, 11:14
I agree @xtwl, that was disappointing as a reaction (though maybe not quite unexpected), right when we were hoping to finally have a full Merc,Ferrari showdown in this quali. Glad it was ‘only’ a sensor issue; hope none of them have problems in qualil.
Sure, Merc will be gaining more than Ferrari in Q3, but still, Ferrari is too close to allow for mistakes by the Mercedes drivers – Q3 should be a blast, and race looks like it could be good here too, which is a bit of a surprise from this track.
Janet54321
14th May 2016, 11:15
Rose tinted specs plus broadcasting a UK driver to UK audience .
I’m sticking to Ch4 whenever possible.
John H (@john-h)
14th May 2016, 12:25
It’s pretty refreshing coverage I’m finding (ch4 that is). Just too bad we know it won’t last.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
14th May 2016, 11:16
What’s with the incredibly outdated behaviour over a pink shirt, over women wearing pink. That was even worse.
gdewilde (@gdewilde)
14th May 2016, 11:17
The final sector by Rosberg is another good example. It was mighty, considering it was done on his only proper fast lap.
But on Sky F1: “Hamilton and Vettel are struggling in the final sector”. When in fact it was actually very fast and tidy by Rosberg.
miki
14th May 2016, 11:29
Well its Kravitz after all the duo of Kravitz and Croft both make this kind of things for a quite a long time. So i started to ignore them.
David Jones
14th May 2016, 12:48
Porsche I’ve always appreciated your inputs but I am starting to think you are slowly joining the anti Lewis brigade.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
14th May 2016, 11:11
It’s just free practice, but with Ferrari and Mercedes close, Verstappen ahead of Ricciardo and the midfield fight incredibly tight, I am very excited.
My Left Eye (@blik)
14th May 2016, 11:43
Wondering where the “I’m not watching quiet cars” choir boys are. Bet they’ve not missed a GP this year.