Rosberg leads final practice for Singapore GP
Rosberg forges ahead |
A session that had a bit of everything – crashes, mistakes, and even a giant monitor lizard – Nico Rosberg was again fastest in his Mercedes but the huge gap Mercedes has enjoyed the past 3 years wasn't there this time.
Just 0.059s separated the top two, and three teams – Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari – were all at the top.
Rosberg was followed by Max Verstappen running the only 'trick' Renault engine this weekend and Kimi Raikkonen in third for Ferrari.
There is work to do for the likes of Vettel and Hamilton, who between them boast six wins in Singapore.
Vettel was 5th behind Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull but Hamilton was way back in 8th after spinning his Mercedes twice.
Confirming the pace shown by Mercedes in FP2, Rosberg was once again quickest on the ultra-soft tires as he stopped the clock at 1min 44.352secs, though Red Bull's Verstappen would get close to unseating him at the top off the timesheets just 0.059secs adrift.
Setting up a potentially exciting qualifying session later this evening, Rosberg's eye-catching pace came as his title rival and Mercedes teammate Hamilton continued to struggle for consistent form around the Marina Bay Circuit. Losing track time with technical issues yesterday, Hamilton suffered two out-braking moments in FP3 at Turn 7 – including one on his ultra-soft tire run – to leave him eighth quickest, 1.4secs adrift.
Results
POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR/ENGINE | TIME | BEHIND | LAPS |
1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes/Mercedes | 1:44.352 | +0.000s | 15 |
2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:44.411 | +0.059s | 15 |
3 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari/Ferrari | 1:44.860 | +0.508s | 15 |
4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:44.903 | +0.551s | 12 |
5 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari/Ferrari | 1:45.104 | +0.752s | 13 |
6 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India Mercedes | 1:45.316 | +0.964s | 13 |
7 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1:45.503 | +1.151s | 19 |
8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes/Mercedes | 1:45.806 | +1.454s | 9 |
9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1:45.879 | +1.527s | 17 |
10 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams Mercedes | 1:45.947 | +1.595s | 16 |
11 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:46.112 | +1.760s | 15 |
12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:46.164 | +1.812s | 13 |
13 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas Ferrari | 1:46.316 | +1.964s | 16 |
14 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:46.529 | +2.177s | 17 |
15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault/Renault | 1:47.116 | +2.764s | 11 |
16 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren Honda | 1:47.277 | +2.925s | 16 |
17 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber Ferrari | 1:47.293 | +2.941s | 18 |
18 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:47.411 | +3.059s | 20 |
19 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson ERI | Sauber Ferrari | 1:47.956 | +3.604s | 20 |
20 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer PAL | Renault/Renault | 1:48.689 | +4.337s | 13 |
21 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein WEH | MRT Mercedes | 1:49.201 | +4.849s | 10 |
22 | 31 | Esteban Ocon OCO | MRT Mercedes | 1:49.565 | +5.213s | 14 |