Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Hungaroring, 2018

Vettel leads Ferrari one-two in dry final practice

2018 United States Grand Prix third practice

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Sebastian Vettel led Ferrari to a one-two in the final practice session for the United States Grand Prix which was unexpectedly held in dry conditions.

The forecast rain stayed away for the 60-minute session and Vettel used the ultra-soft tyres to set a best time of 1’33.797 which was just six-tenths of a second off last year’s pole position time. Kimi Raikkonen was only 46 thousandths of a second slower than his team mate.

For much of the session the Mercedes pair were as much as seven-tenths of a second slower than the Ferraris. However Lewis Hamilton’s final lap moved him within a tenth of a second of Vettel, who will take a three-place grid penalty after today’s qualifying session.

Valtteri Bottas was much further behind in fourth after his last run was spoiled when Brendon Hartley spun his Toro Rosso at the penultimate corner. The Red Bull pair were next, Max Verstappen getting within a second of the top three.

Four different cars completed the top 10: Charles Leclerc’s Sauber, Sergio Perez’s Force India, Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Renault and Romain Grosjean’s Haas.

Pierre Gasly, running Toro Rosso’s new aerodynamic upgrade, was 12th-fastest and six tenths of a second faster than his team mate. Hartley was the only driver to be out-paced by one of the McLarens.

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Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
15Sebastian VettelFerrari1’33.79720
27Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’33.8430.04621
344Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’33.8700.07323
477Valtteri BottasMercedes1’34.5560.75921
533Max VerstappenRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’34.7030.90621
63Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’34.9101.11320
716Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari1’35.3651.56821
811Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’35.4111.61421
955Carlos Sainz JnrRenault1’35.4501.65321
108Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’35.4681.67119
1131Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes1’35.5621.76522
1210Pierre GaslyToro Rosso-Honda1’35.7131.91627
1320Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’35.7701.97319
1427Nico HulkenbergRenault1’35.8822.08519
159Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’36.0002.20321
1618Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1’36.1882.39121
1735Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes1’36.1932.39620
182Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren-Renault1’36.3022.50523
1928Brendon HartleyToro Rosso-Honda1’36.3302.53326
2014Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault1’36.3322.53520

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Third practice visual gaps

Sebastian Vettel – 1’33.797

+0.046 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’33.843

+0.073 Lewis Hamilton – 1’33.870

+0.759 Valtteri Bottas – 1’34.556

+0.906 Max Verstappen – 1’34.703

+1.113 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’34.910

+1.568 Charles Leclerc – 1’35.365

+1.614 Sergio Perez – 1’35.411

+1.653 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’35.450

+1.671 Romain Grosjean – 1’35.468

+1.765 Esteban Ocon – 1’35.562

+1.916 Pierre Gasly – 1’35.713

+1.973 Kevin Magnussen – 1’35.770

+2.085 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’35.882

+2.203 Marcus Ericsson – 1’36.000

+2.391 Lance Stroll – 1’36.188

+2.396 Sergey Sirotkin – 1’36.193

+2.505 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’36.302

+2.533 Brendon Hartley – 1’36.330

+2.535 Fernando Alonso – 1’36.332

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

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PosDriverCarFP1FP2FP3Fri/Sat diffTotal laps
1Sebastian VettelFerrari1’49.4891’53.9121’33.797-15.69246
2Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’49.9281’53.4431’33.843-16.08548
3Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’47.5021’48.7161’33.870-13.63232
4Valtteri BottasMercedes1’48.8061’34.556-14.2528
5Max VerstappenRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’48.8471’49.7981’34.703-14.14435
6Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’49.3261’34.910-14.41629
7Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari1’50.9611’54.1011’35.365-15.59644
8Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’51.4591’54.9631’35.411-16.04845
9Carlos Sainz JnrRenault1’50.6651’35.450-15.21531
10Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’50.8211’35.468-15.35329
11Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes1’51.6551’55.3481’35.562-16.09345
12Pierre GaslyToro Rosso-Honda1’51.2341’49.7281’35.713-14.01556
13Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’51.6141’35.770-15.84434
14Nico HulkenbergRenault1’51.7171’52.2081’35.882-15.83532
15Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’51.0161’53.0701’36.000-15.01644
16Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1’51.8961’54.6371’36.188-15.70840
17Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes1’51.5891’55.4461’36.193-15.39642
18Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren-Renault1’53.3541’36.302-17.05233
19Brendon HartleyToro Rosso-Honda1’52.5051’36.330-16.17545
20Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault1’51.0361’51.7281’36.332-14.70432
21Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault1’51.2329
22Sean GelaelToro Rosso-Honda1’52.62521

2018 United States Grand Prix

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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...

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6 comments on “Vettel leads Ferrari one-two in dry final practice”

  1. Finally some dry-running. Hopefully, the rain would stay away throughout qualifying as well (at the moment, it’s looking positive for that.)

  2. Did anyone else find the helicopter reporting useless?

    1. yEAH quite boring ..2 twice i lived with it but more than that it was useless

    2. I was thinking the same thing, but at least Brundle had a good time!

      1. I loved the heli stuff. Gave a perspecive on what it takes to get those shots.

  3. Did have to chuckle whilst following the Autosport live feed, when towards the end an entry popped up promoting the Pitstop betting app.

    They are aware that he has a grid penalty, aren’t they? At best, what ever happens he’s likely to start no higher than fourth.

Comments are closed.