Russian GP: Vettel leads Ferrari 1-2 in final practice

Sebastian Vettel getting it done for Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel getting it done for Ferrari

Could Mercedes still be sandbagging? "We've never done that intentionally," Mercedes' Hamilton said Friday. "There's no benefit to doing that. We were just trying to find the right balance in the car, but today it was not easy," he added on Friday. "But the reality is that Ferrari is just very fast.

Indeed they are fast. Sebastian Vettel turned the fastest lap in final practice Saturday morning for the Russian GP at Sochi. The Ferrari driver's fast time of 1m34.001s was 3/10ths up on his teammate Kimi Raikkonen who was 2nd at 1m34.338s.

Once again Valtteri Bottas beat his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to claim 3rd with a lap at 1m34.364s.

Max Verstappen rounded out the top-5 for Red Bull.

Renault confirmed that Palmer's car will require an engine change before qualifying. Just four laps for the unlucky Briton in this session.

Results

POS NO DRIVER CAR TIME GAP LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:34.001 +0.000s 17
2 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:34.338 +0.337s 16
3 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:34.364 +0.363s 20
4 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.542 +0.541s 19
5 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:35.452 +1.451s 21
6 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:35.471 +1.470s 17
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:35.662 +1.661s 15
8 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:35.830 +1.829s 24
9 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:36.164 +2.163s 20
10 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:36.556 +2.555s 19
11 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:36.649 +2.648s 19
12 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1:36.676 +2.675s 22
13 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:36.846 +2.845s 18
14 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:36.869 +2.868s 12
15 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:36.962 +2.961s 21
16 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:37.164 +3.163s 20
17 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1:37.182 +3.181s 15
18 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:37.503 +3.502s 21
19 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1:37.657 +3.656s 17
20 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 4