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Edition

Australia

Malaysian GP: Raikkonen leads Ferrari 1-2 in FP3

Kimi Raikkonen edged out Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel to the quickest time in final Formula 1 practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H

Sutton Images

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB13
Pierre Gasly, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR12
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1 W08
Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren MCL32
Felipe Massa, Williams FW40
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H
Esteban Ocon, Sahara Force India F1 VJM10
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB13
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL32 locks up
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-17 locks up

Raikkonen posted a 1m31.880s on the supersoft compound tyres to finish 0.162 seconds clear of Vettel, with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo half a tenth further back in third.

However, there was frustration for Ferrari in the final minutes of the session when Vettel was told to slow and return to the pits.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton could only manage the fifth quickest time, 0.659s off the pace, with teammate Valtteri Bottas two tenths quicker in fourth.

Hamilton made a mistake at the final corner on his qualifying simulation, running deep into the hairpin and failing to improve on his earlier time.

Mercedes brought a substantial upgrade to the W08 to Malaysia, including revised front wing, 'spoon' deflector, bargeboards and floor, but has so far struggled relative to its rivals.

Mercedes decided to run split programmes with its drivers, in a bid to find answers, with Bottas running the new aero package and Hamilton reverting to the old.

Hamilton had set the early pace, when most ran used super-softs, clocking a 1m32.539s, with Raikkonen and Vettel slotting into second and third respectively.

When the teams bolted on fresh sets of supersofts, which Pirelli says is around 0.8s quicker than the soft, Ricciardo was the first out and went quickest with a 1m32.091s.

Vettel then moved to the top of the pile before Raikkonen usurped him to end the session quickest of all at a dry and muggy Sepang.

Max Verstappen was sixth quickest, 0.040s adrift of Hamilton, with his qualifying simulation coming late on, but his session was disrupted when he had contact with Jolyon Palmer at the final corner.

Palmer, who had a scrappy session that included an off-track excursion, dived down the inside of the final corner, locking up and hitting the Red Bull.

The impact broke Palmer’s front wing with Verstappen reporting a puncture, and both drivers were summoned to the stewards over the incident.

Sergio Perez improved to seventh quickest, 1.329s off the pace, with Felipe Massa eighth only 0.031s adrift in the Williams.

Esteban Ocon and McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne, who outpaced teammate Fernando Alonso, completed the top 10.

It was another tough day for Grosjean, whose mechanics worked into the early hours of the morning following his Friday practice crash.

The Haas driver spun and aborted a flying lap when he picked up a flat  spot as a result of a big lock-up into Turn 9 and ended up 18th.

His teammate Kevin Magnussen had his running limited when the team recalled him to the garage after it suspected a problem with the engine but he got back out on track and clocked the 13th quickest time. 

ClaDriverChassisEngineLapsTimeGap
1 finland Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari Ferrari 19 1'31.880  
2 germany Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari Ferrari 14 1'32.042 0.162
3 australia Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull TAG 16 1'32.091 0.211
4 finland Valtteri Bottas  Mercedes Mercedes 24 1'32.329 0.449
5 united_kingdom Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes Mercedes 20 1'32.539 0.659
6 netherlands Max Verstappen  Red Bull TAG 17 1'32.579 0.699
7 mexico Sergio Perez  Force India Mercedes 20 1'33.209 1.329
8 brazil Felipe Massa  Williams Mercedes 20 1'33.240 1.360
9 france Esteban Ocon  Force India Mercedes 21 1'33.290 1.410
10 belgium Stoffel Vandoorne  McLaren Honda 16 1'33.321 1.441
11 spain Fernando Alonso  McLaren Honda 17 1'33.530 1.650
12 canada Lance Stroll  Williams Mercedes 21 1'33.538 1.658
13 denmark Kevin Magnussen  Haas Ferrari 10 1'33.787 1.907
14 germany Nico Hulkenberg  Renault Renault 14 1'33.871 1.991
15 spain Carlos Sainz   Toro Rosso Renault 22 1'33.924 2.044
16 france Pierre Gasly  Toro Rosso Renault 24 1'34.206 2.326
17 united_kingdom Jolyon Palmer  Renault Renault 12 1'34.475 2.595
18 france Romain Grosjean  Haas Ferrari 19 1'34.914 3.034
19 sweden Marcus Ericsson  Sauber Ferrari 19 1'34.936 3.056
20 germany Pascal Wehrlein  Sauber Ferrari 19 1'35.045 3.165

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Edition

Australia