Practice report
Formula 1 Australian GP
Australian GP: Vettel tops FP3 Ferrari 1-2 in drying conditions
Sebastian Vettel timed his fastest lap perfectly as wet weather gave way to a drying track in Melbourne for the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Edited: Mar 24, 2018, 5:06 AM
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The Ferrari driver was one of a handful to gamble on the ultrasoft tyre in the dying seconds of the hour-long session, which had for the most part been limited to running on intermediates thanks to morning storms over Melbourne.
It was a gamble that played off, Vettel going fastest at the flag with a 1m26.067s that left him more than two seconds clear of the rest of the field.
Teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson were second and third quickest, having also run the ultrasoft right at the end of the session, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen was the best of those to have not run a slick tyre down in fourth.
Wet conditions thanks to the morning thunderstorms meant the first 10 minutes were mostly exploratory running on full wets, Fernando Alonso the first to brave the intermediates seven minutes in.
Even then nobody bothered to set a time until the 18-minute mark, Renault's Nico Hulkenberg going top by default with a 1m40.863s on the intermediates, despite a massive moment on the way out of Turn 10.
Hulkenberg made progress on his next two laps, dipping into the 1m38s, before Verstappen took over at the top with a 1m37.419s on his first flyer. He made swift work of his own benchmark too, a 1m35.548s on the same run leaving him the best part of two seconds clear of the field.
Right before the midway point of the session Daniel Ricciardo closed the gap to his teammate to 0.4s, at which point conditions were judged good enough to enable DRS.
Five minutes later times began to tumble, Ricciardo going fastest with a 1m35.265s before being topped by Alonso's 1m34.298s.
The two Mercedes drivers then drifted to the top, Valtteri Bottas taking over P1 with a 1m34.174s as Lewis Hamilton slotted in behind, 0.051s off his teammate.
Hamilton was short on running to that point, however, having been delayed by an issue when trying to make his first run 25 minutes in. "I can't pull away," he told the team over the radio after not being able to exit the garage. A steering wheel change and a 10-minute wait required before the world champion could get on track.
Bottas' fastest time on inters stood until the final two minutes, when the timesheet came alive with a mix of drivers switching to ultrasofts and others making the most of the near-dry conditions on fresh intermediates.
First it was Renault's Carlos Sainz who went quickest on a set of inters, before Verstappen, also on the inters, jumped him by 1.5s with a 1m31.680s.
Vettel, who had been the very first to roll out of pitlane on slicks, then went more than five seconds clear of everyone with his 1m26.067s, the margin shrinking back to 2.4s when Raikkonen and Ericsson completed their ultrasoft laps at the flag.
Ricciardo made a late gain on the intermediate to slot into sixth behind Vertsappen and Sainz, while Bottas and Hamilton were bumped down to seventh and eighth respectively.
Stoffel Vandoorne and Alonso rounded out the top 10, McLaren having flirted with the idea of a slick tyre but ultimately opting against a late switch.
Elsewhere in the field, Lance Stroll's running was limited by a gearbox repair that meant he didn't get on track until there was just 16 minutes to go. The Canadian wound up 14th, three tenths behind rookie Williams teammate Sergey Sirotkin.
The Force Indias effectively did no running at all, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez left anchored to the bottom of the timesheet after not setting a single representative time.
Australian GP FP3
PosDriverChassisEngineLapsTimeGap 1 
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari 15 1'26.067 2 
Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari 13 1'28.499 2.432 3 
Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 14 1'28.890 2.823 4 
Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG 8 1'31.680 5.613 5 
Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault Renault 11 1'33.172 7.105 6 
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG 14 1'34.043 7.976 7 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes 14 1'34.174 8.107 8 
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 7 1'34.225 8.158 9 
Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Renault 15 1'34.233 8.166 10 Fernando Alonso McLaren Renault 13 1'34.298 8.231 11 
Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Honda 16 1'34.990 8.923 12 
Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Honda 16 1'35.438 9.371 13 
Sergey Sirotkin Williams Mercedes 16 1'35.589 9.522 14 
Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 8 1'35.828 9.761 15 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 6 1'36.171 10.104 16 
Charles Leclerc Sauber Ferrari 12 1'36.448 10.381 17 
Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 7 1'36.807 10.740 18 Nico Hulkenberg Renault Renault 8 1'38.482 12.415 19 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1 20 
Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1
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