Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Hungaroring, 2018

Vettel leads Ferrari one-two in dry final practice

2018 United States Grand Prix third practice

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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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Pos. No. Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’33.797 20
2 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’33.843 0.046 21
3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’33.870 0.073 23
4 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1’34.556 0.759 21
5 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’34.703 0.906 21
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’34.910 1.113 20
7 16 Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 1’35.365 1.568 21
8 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’35.411 1.614 21
9 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Renault 1’35.450 1.653 21
10 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1’35.468 1.671 19
11 31 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1’35.562 1.765 22
12 10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso-Honda 1’35.713 1.916 27
13 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1’35.770 1.973 19
14 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’35.882 2.085 19
15 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’36.000 2.203 21
16 18 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1’36.188 2.391 21
17 35 Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 1’36.193 2.396 20
18 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 1’36.302 2.505 23
19 28 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso-Honda 1’36.330 2.533 26
20 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 1’36.332 2.535 20

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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

2018 United States Grand Prix

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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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6 comments on “Vettel leads Ferrari one-two in dry final practice”

  1. Finally some dry-running. Hopefully, the rain would stay away throughout qualifying as well (at the moment, it’s looking positive for that.)

  2. Did anyone else find the helicopter reporting useless?

    1. yEAH quite boring ..2 twice i lived with it but more than that it was useless

    2. I was thinking the same thing, but at least Brundle had a good time!

      1. I loved the heli stuff. Gave a perspecive on what it takes to get those shots.

  3. 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.

Comments are closed.