Brazilian GP: Rosberg stays fastest in superior Mercedes

Nico Rosberg, fastest in all three practice sessions, but when it comes race day Hamilton will likely smoke him.

After a sluggish start to the morning in which the Mercedes driver battled to dial into the changing circuit, the switch to soft rubber saw Nico Rosberg finish quickest in FP3.

Despite forecasts of rain, FP3 at the Interlagos circuit got underway on a dry track with just a few damp corners from overnight rain.

The Toro Rossos of Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat set the early pace before Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas entered the fray. The duo traded blows at the front while the Mercedes duo had a slow start to the session.

Although Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were into the action almost from the onset, they were over two seconds off the pace.

Hamilton especially appeared to be struggling as he flat-spotted his front right only to lose the back end of his W05 two laps later, resulting in a spin and a return to the pits.

Back at the front, Felipe Massa went quickest with a 1:11.559 for the Williams driver.

The Brazilian held that position through to the soft tires runs, which – as expected – saw the Mercedes drivers come to the fore.

After changes to the set-up of both cars, Rosberg ventured out for his soft tire run and blitzed the competition.

He clocked a 1:10.446 while Hamilton joined his team-mate up at the front with a 1:10.560, 0.114s off the pace.

Massa took third place ahead of his team-mate Valtteri Bottas while Daniel Ricciardo was fifth fastest.

Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso were next in line, all finishing FP3 within a second of Rosberg's P1 time.

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