Ferrari one-two in final practice as Mercedes close the gap

2017 Malaysian Grand Prix third practice

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Kimi Raikkonen led a Ferrari one-two in the final practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix as Mercedes made some progress in reducing the deficit they had yesterday.

However it wasn’t a trouble-free session for Ferrari as Sebastian Vettel toured slowly into the pits at the end of the session.

Raikkonen led his team mate by a tenth of a second with Daniel Ricciardo in close attendance in his Red Bull. His team mate was four-tenths of a second back following an incident with Jolyon Palmer at the end of the session.

Verstappen had backed off approaching the final corner when he was caught by Palmer, who was on a flying lap. The Renault driver tried to squeeze down the inside of Verstappen’s car but the pair made contact, removing part of Palmer’s front wing and leaving Verstappen with a puncture.

The two Mercedes separated the Red Bull pair. Valtteri Bottas was four-tenths of a second down on Raikkonen, Hamilton a further two-tenths down following a scruffy final run.

Both Force Indias appeared in the top ten, separated by Felipe Massa’s Williams. Stoffel Vandoorne edged team mate Fernando Alonso out for tenth.

Pos. No. Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’31.880 19
2 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’32.042 0.162 14
3 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’32.091 0.211 16
4 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1’32.329 0.449 24
5 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’32.539 0.659 20
6 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’32.579 0.699 17
7 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’33.209 1.329 20
8 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’33.240 1.360 20
9 31 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1’33.290 1.410 21
10 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Honda 1’33.321 1.441 16
11 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1’33.530 1.650 17
12 18 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1’33.538 1.658 21
13 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1’33.787 1.907 10
14 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’33.871 1.991 14
15 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Renault 1’33.924 2.044 22
16 10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso-Renault 1’34.206 2.326 24
17 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1’34.475 2.595 12
18 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1’34.914 3.034 19
19 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’34.936 3.056 19
20 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber-Ferrari 1’35.045 3.165 19

Third practice visual gaps

Kimi Raikkonen – 1’31.880

+0.162 Sebastian Vettel – 1’32.042

+0.211 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’32.091

+0.449 Valtteri Bottas – 1’32.329

+0.659 Lewis Hamilton – 1’32.539

+0.699 Max Verstappen – 1’32.579

+1.329 Sergio Perez – 1’33.209

+1.360 Felipe Massa – 1’33.240

+1.410 Esteban Ocon – 1’33.290

+1.441 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’33.321

+1.650 Fernando Alonso – 1’33.530

+1.658 Lance Stroll – 1’33.538

+1.907 Kevin Magnussen – 1’33.787

+1.991 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’33.871

+2.044 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’33.924

+2.326 Pierre Gasly – 1’34.206

+2.595 Jolyon Palmer – 1’34.475

+3.034 Romain Grosjean – 1’34.914

+3.056 Marcus Ericsson – 1’34.936

+3.165 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’35.045

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

Combined practice times

Pos Driver Car FP1 FP2 FP3 Fri/Sat diff Total laps
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’51.009 1’31.261 1’32.042 +0.781 49
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’50.734 1’31.865 1’31.880 +0.015 50
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’49.719 1’32.099 1’32.091 -0.008 47
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’48.962 1’32.109 1’32.579 +0.47 39
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1’52.007 1’32.720 1’32.329 -0.391 55
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’51.518 1’32.677 1’32.539 -0.138 43
7 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1’50.597 1’32.564 1’33.530 +0.966 37
8 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’54.669 1’32.862 1’33.209 +0.347 44
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’33.060 1’33.871 +0.811 38
10 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1’53.896 1’33.096 1’33.290 +0.194 51
11 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’33.394 1’33.240 -0.154 43
12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Honda 1’53.771 1’33.673 1’33.321 -0.352 41
13 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1’53.625 1’33.381 1’34.475 +1.094 48
14 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1’52.295 1’33.818 1’33.538 -0.28 46
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1’34.343 1’33.787 -0.556 27
16 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Renault 1’34.104 1’33.924 -0.18 41
17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso-Renault 1’52.380 1’34.043 1’34.206 +0.163 60
18 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1’56.211 1’34.118 1’34.914 +0.796 45
19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’35.697 1’34.936 -0.761 46
20 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber-Ferrari 1’55.652 1’35.246 1’35.045 -0.201 58
21 Sergey Sirotkin Renault 1’53.521 10
22 Sean Gelael Toro Rosso-Renault 1’54.610 13
23 Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 1’55.280 10
24 Antonio Giovinazzi Haas-Ferrari 1’56.339 6

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    10 comments on “Ferrari one-two in final practice as Mercedes close the gap”

    1. Jimmy5.0L
      30th September 2017, 7:52

      Kimi looking quick. Good to see.

    2. G
      30th September 2017, 7:56

      I thought Vettel did 1.31.2 yesterday in FP2, but in the combined times it now shows 1:32.6, am I missing something?

    3. Profile Photo

      @HoHum (@hohum)
      30th September 2017, 7:58

      MB to find even more speed in Q3. Meanwhile they’ll keep the wick turned down to get the most life out of their engines.

      1. Profile Photo

        pSynrg (@psynrg)
        30th September 2017, 9:09

        @hohum If they were protecting engines, they would simply run less, and not the equal most laps of the session.

    4. Profile Photo

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      30th September 2017, 8:01

      Something happened to Seb, croft and Kravitz delighted, that’s all that I could infer. On the other channel they have no idea what’s going on, particularly technical stuff. On sky they are on top of things but they askew everything and rejoice in infuriating most f1 fans with relentlessness bias.

    5. Profile Photo

      Ju88sy (@)
      30th September 2017, 8:03

      Caught the end of the session, that was scrappy from Max who was fully aware of Jolyon coming up fast to finish his lap and ruined both drivers flying laps. Interesting to see what Mercedes will do with a split setup on the cars for the session. Hamilton’s fastest lap was scruffy so which way will they go? The car looked a handful with the back end moving around.

    6. Profile Photo

      @HoHum (@hohum)
      30th September 2017, 8:06

      Leaving out the FP1 wet track, DanR is looking pretty consistent.

    7. Tom
      30th September 2017, 8:12

      Vettel having a full power unit change to an old spec could help Kimi to pole. I expect if that the case he’ll be swiftly moved aside tomorrow tho. Mercedes are just confusing this weekend. Looked to finally have the pace with Hamilton going fastest early on, but nowhere when it got hotter (as it will be in qualifying) I’d be surprised if Hamilton gets top 3 here.

      1. Profile Photo

        Ivan B (@njoydesign)
        30th September 2017, 8:35

        it will be the new spec.

    8. Profile Photo

      David Searle (@searlo)
      30th September 2017, 8:43

      I have to admit I’m impressed with Gasly.

    Comments are closed.