Kimi Raikkonen preserved Ferrari’s advantage in the final free practice session before this afternoon’s qualifying run for the Malaysian GP.
The Scuderia continued to dominate proceedings in the ultimate dress rehearsal, with the Finn clocking in just ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel by just over a tenth.
Malaysian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 results
1
Kimi Räikkönen
Ferrari
1:31.880s
19
2
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:32.042s
+ 0.162s
14
3
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
1:32.091s
+ 0.211s
16
4
Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes
1:32.329s
+ 0.449s
24
5
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:32.539s
+ 0.659s
20
6
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:32.579s
+ 0.699s
17
7
Sergio Pérez
Force India
1:33.209s
+ 1.329s
20
8
Felipe Massa
Williams
1:33.240s
+ 1.360s
20
9
Esteban Ocon
Force India
1:33.290s
+ 1.410s
21
10
Stoffel Vandoorne
McLaren
1:33.321s
+ 1.441s
16
11
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
1:33.530s
+ 1.650s
17
12
Lance Stroll
Williams
1:33.538s
+ 1.658s
21
13
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:33.787s
+ 1.907s
10
14
Nico Hülkenberg
Renault
1:33.871s
+ 1.991s
14
15
Carlos Sainz
Toro Rosso
1:33.924s
+ 2.044s
22
16
Pierre Gasly
Toro Rosso
1:34.206s
+ 2.326s
24
17
Jolyon Palmer
Renault
1:34.475s
+ 2.595s
12
18
Romain Grosjean
Haas
1:34.914s
+ 3.034s
19
19
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
1:34.936s
+ 3.056s
19
20
Pascal Wehrlein
Sauber
1:35.045s
+ 3.165s
19
Vettel concluded his run with engine trouble however, an issue which will warrant further investigations before this afternoon’s crucial grid-defining.
Daniel Ricciardo was hot on the heels of the red squad however, proving that Red Bull will be a force to be reckoned with later on.
In a bid to boost its performance, Hamilton and Bottas ran on different set-ups in FP3 with the former reverting to slightly older settings while the latter stuck with Mercedes’ latest updates.
The split choice appeared to favor Hamilton who moved to the top of the timesheet half way through the 60-minute session before Ferrari upped the pace.
Max Verstappen ended the session P6 but it was an untidy end for the Dutch driver who tangled with Jolyon Palmer’s Renault in the closing stages of FP3.
The Brit was on a flying lap and tried to brake down the inside of the Red Bull only to hit Verstappen and damage the Renault’s front wing in the process.
Having passed the pit entry, Verstappen spun around to enter the pitlane, driving the wrong way on the track!
The incident landed both drivers in hot water as they were summoned to the Stewards.
Both Force India and Williams’ Felipe Massa rounded off the top ten.
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