Three-in-a-row for Hamilton as Rosberg cuts the gap

2015 Hungarian Grand Prix third practice

Posted on

| Written by

Lewis Hamilton completed a clean sweep of practice sessions for the Hungarian Grand Prix by setting the quickest time in the final hour of running.

Hamilton’s best effort of 1’22.997 was almost a full second quicker than he managed yesterday.

Team mate Nico Rosberg was much closer to him than yesterday, however, the pair ending the session separated by less than a tenth of a second. However it wasn’t a trouble-free session for Rosberg: a practice start went wrong as he sat at the pit lane exit, forcing him to climb out of his car with a minute remaining.

Sebastian Vettel was third-quickest in the only Ferrari which was able to set a time on the quicker soft tyre. A water leak sidelined Kimi Raikkonen earlier in the session.

There was little to choose between Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams on the medium tyres, but on the soft tyres Vettel had three-tenths of a second in hand over Daniil Kvyat’s RB11. Carlos Sainz Jnr took fifth for Toro Rosso.

Force India returned to action for the first time since Sergio Perez’s crash in first practice. “The cause of yesterday’s issue was identified and a solution put in place overnight,” said the team after a right-rear suspension failure put Perez’s car into the wall.

Playing catch-up to their rivals, the VJM08s did their soft tyre runs early in the session. Nico Hulkenberg’s was quick enough for the sixth-fastest time. Fernando Alonso also got his McLaren into the top ten.

Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’22.99712
26Nico RosbergMercedes1’23.0950.09820
35Sebastian VettelFerrari1’23.8860.88919
426Daniil KvyatRed Bull-Renault1’24.2151.21817
555Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso-Renault1’24.3261.32922
627Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’24.4831.48630
733Max VerstappenToro Rosso-Renault1’24.6781.68122
814Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda1’24.8461.84916
93Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’24.9291.93212
108Romain GrosjeanLotus-Mercedes1’24.9411.94422
1113Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Mercedes1’24.9531.95616
1219Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’25.0942.09713
1322Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Honda1’25.2292.23216
1477Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes1’25.3452.34817
1511Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’25.3932.39625
167Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’25.6612.66412
1712Felipe NasrSauber-Ferrari1’26.0603.06320
189Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’26.0953.09820
1928Will StevensManor-Ferrari1’28.7575.76019
2098Roberto MerhiManor-Ferrari1’28.9085.91120

Third practice visual gaps

Lewis Hamilton – 1’22.997

+0.098 Nico Rosberg – 1’23.095

+0.889 Sebastian Vettel – 1’23.886

+1.218 Daniil Kvyat – 1’24.215

+1.329 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’24.326

+1.486 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’24.483

+1.681 Max Verstappen – 1’24.678

+1.849 Fernando Alonso – 1’24.846

+1.932 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’24.929

+1.944 Romain Grosjean – 1’24.941

+1.956 Pastor Maldonado – 1’24.953

+2.097 Felipe Massa – 1’25.094

+2.232 Jenson Button – 1’25.229

+2.348 Valtteri Bottas – 1’25.345

+2.396 Sergio Perez – 1’25.393

+2.664 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’25.661

+3.063 Felipe Nasr – 1’26.060

+3.098 Marcus Ericsson – 1’26.095

+5.760 Will Stevens – 1’28.757

+5.911 Roberto Merhi – 1’28.908

Combined practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2FP3Fri/Sat diffTotal laps
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’25.1411’23.9491’22.997-0.95266
2Nico RosbergMercedes1’25.2501’24.6681’23.095-1.57376
3Sebastian VettelFerrari1’26.3951’25.6601’23.886-1.77459
4Daniil KvyatRed Bull-Renault1’26.0701’24.3001’24.215-0.08563
5Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso-Renault1’26.7271’25.5991’24.326-1.27384
6Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’26.0531’24.4511’24.929+0.47848
7Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’27.3171’24.483-2.83441
8Max VerstappenToro Rosso-Renault1’26.9341’25.9351’24.678-1.25768
9Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda1’27.2721’25.7521’24.846-0.90663
10Romain GrosjeanLotus-Mercedes1’26.4421’24.941-1.50161
11Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Mercedes1’28.5681’26.0901’24.953-1.13761
12Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’27.3811’25.9201’25.094-0.82663
13Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’25.8121’25.1341’25.661+0.52765
14Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Honda1’27.3081’25.9941’25.229-0.76565
15Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes1’26.8251’25.8811’25.345-0.53671
16Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’26.7761’25.393-1.38339
17Felipe NasrSauber-Ferrari1’27.4091’26.3791’26.060-0.31980
18Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’27.7321’26.8311’26.095-0.73672
19Will StevensManor-Ferrari1’29.6931’29.1151’28.757-0.35864
20Roberto MerhiManor-Ferrari1’29.1131’28.908-0.20549

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

8 comments on “Three-in-a-row for Hamilton as Rosberg cuts the gap”

  1. This is quite difficult for predictions.. The top 2 will be surely the Mercedes. However, best of the rest is quite close between the Red Bulls, Ferraris, and Williams. But Williams are not that “fast” in street circuits. Last time in Monaco, they struggled.

  2. So Honda improvement is real?

    1. Yeah sincerely hope so.

      Hope it lasts during the race… Hungary is normally unpredictable.. But no rain on the cards.. Anyhow if there is a chance for a good position there is none other than Fernando and Jenson who can make the most of it

      1. @jaymenon10 turn out worst…

  3. Hey, @keith, the visual gaps graphic is excellent!

    1. @shimks Thanks very much! (I’m @keithcollantine though :-)

      1. OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 40 victories!!! (@)
        25th July 2015, 13:06

        @keithcollantine I think it wouldn’t harm anybody if you keep both your usual account but also add that “keith” as yours, given that man is not active for 3 years by now.

  4. Lewis Hamilton, future driver of the weekend.

Comments are closed.