Sebastian Vettel led Ferrari to a one-two in the final practice session for the United States Grand Prix which was unexpectedly held in dry conditions.
The forecast rain stayed away for the 60-minute session and Vettel used the ultra-soft tyres to set a best time of 1’33.797 which was just six-tenths of a second off last year’s pole position time. Kimi Raikkonen was only 46 thousandths of a second slower than his team mate.For much of the session the Mercedes pair were as much as seven-tenths of a second slower than the Ferraris. However Lewis Hamilton’s final lap moved him within a tenth of a second of Vettel, who will take a three-place grid penalty after today’s qualifying session.
Valtteri Bottas was much further behind in fourth after his last run was spoiled when Brendon Hartley spun his Toro Rosso at the penultimate corner. The Red Bull pair were next, Max Verstappen getting within a second of the top three.
Four different cars completed the top 10: Charles Leclerc’s Sauber, Sergio Perez’s Force India, Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Renault and Romain Grosjean’s Haas.
Pierre Gasly, running Toro Rosso’s new aerodynamic upgrade, was 12th-fastest and six tenths of a second faster than his team mate. Hartley was the only driver to be out-paced by one of the McLarens.
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Third practice visual gaps
Sebastian Vettel – 1’33.797
+0.046 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’33.843
+0.073 Lewis Hamilton – 1’33.870
+0.759 Valtteri Bottas – 1’34.556
+0.906 Max Verstappen – 1’34.703
+1.113 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’34.910
+1.568 Charles Leclerc – 1’35.365
+1.614 Sergio Perez – 1’35.411
+1.653 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’35.450
+1.671 Romain Grosjean – 1’35.468
+1.765 Esteban Ocon – 1’35.562
+1.916 Pierre Gasly – 1’35.713
+1.973 Kevin Magnussen – 1’35.770
+2.085 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’35.882
+2.203 Marcus Ericsson – 1’36.000
+2.391 Lance Stroll – 1’36.188
+2.396 Sergey Sirotkin – 1’36.193
+2.505 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’36.302
+2.533 Brendon Hartley – 1’36.330
+2.535 Fernando Alonso – 1’36.332
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’49.489 | 1’53.912 | 1’33.797 | -15.692 | 46 |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’49.928 | 1’53.443 | 1’33.843 | -16.085 | 48 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’47.502 | 1’48.716 | 1’33.870 | -13.632 | 32 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’48.806 | 1’34.556 | -14.25 | 28 | |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’48.847 | 1’49.798 | 1’34.703 | -14.144 | 35 |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’49.326 | 1’34.910 | -14.416 | 29 | |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’50.961 | 1’54.101 | 1’35.365 | -15.596 | 44 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’51.459 | 1’54.963 | 1’35.411 | -16.048 | 45 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’50.665 | 1’35.450 | -15.215 | 31 | |
| 10 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’50.821 | 1’35.468 | -15.353 | 29 | |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1’51.655 | 1’55.348 | 1’35.562 | -16.093 | 45 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’51.234 | 1’49.728 | 1’35.713 | -14.015 | 56 |
| 13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’51.614 | 1’35.770 | -15.844 | 34 | |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’51.717 | 1’52.208 | 1’35.882 | -15.835 | 32 |
| 15 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’51.016 | 1’53.070 | 1’36.000 | -15.016 | 44 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1’51.896 | 1’54.637 | 1’36.188 | -15.708 | 40 |
| 17 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams-Mercedes | 1’51.589 | 1’55.446 | 1’36.193 | -15.396 | 42 |
| 18 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 1’53.354 | 1’36.302 | -17.052 | 33 | |
| 19 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’52.505 | 1’36.330 | -16.175 | 45 | |
| 20 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 1’51.036 | 1’51.728 | 1’36.332 | -14.704 | 32 |
| 21 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’51.232 | 9 | |||
| 22 | Sean Gelael | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’52.625 | 21 |
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Jere (@jerejj)
20th October 2018, 20:11
Finally some dry-running. Hopefully, the rain would stay away throughout qualifying as well (at the moment, it’s looking positive for that.)
Warren2185 (@warren2185)
20th October 2018, 20:14
Did anyone else find the helicopter reporting useless?
Haizel Ann Bechayda
20th October 2018, 20:20
yEAH quite boring ..2 twice i lived with it but more than that it was useless
schooner (@schooner)
20th October 2018, 20:38
I was thinking the same thing, but at least Brundle had a good time!
Johns
20th October 2018, 20:41
I loved the heli stuff. Gave a perspecive on what it takes to get those shots.
Nikki (@nikkit)
20th October 2018, 21:07
Did have to chuckle whilst following the Autosport live feed, when towards the end an entry popped up promoting the Pitstop betting app.
They are aware that he has a grid penalty, aren’t they? At best, what ever happens he’s likely to start no higher than fourth.