Vettel sets fastest ever lap at Albert Park; Stroll crash ends session early; Bottas ahead of Hamilton; Red Bulls struggle
Thursday 30 March 2017 11:30, UK
Sebastian Vettel set the fastest ever lap around Albert Park to top the timesheets in final practice for the Australian GP.
The Ferrari driver's 1:23.380 on the ultrasoft tyre surpassed the 1.23:529 benchmark he had set in 2011 and was nearly half a second quicker than the rest of the field.
Valtteri Bottas was second to Vettel but managed to outpace Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who had dominated both of Friday's practice sessions.
"We've seen some surprises," said Sky F1 analyst Pat Symonds.
"I think Ferrari would have been running a similar fuel load to the Mercedes. They're quick there's no doubt about it."
Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in the sister Ferrari but the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen struggled, finishing sixth and 12th respectively.
The session was brought to a premature end after Williams' Lance Stroll crashed at Turn 10, bringing out the red flags.
McLaren again avoided any reliability problems but both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were over three seconds off Vettel's pace, in 14th and 15th respectively.
Antonio Giovinazzi, filling in for Pascal Wehrlein for the remainder of the weekend, was slowest in the Sauber.
In an encouraging display for Renault, Nico Hulkenberg was fifth on the ultrasofts while both Haas and Toro Rosso cars finished in the top 10.
Qualifying takes place at 6am UK Time.
Australian GP Practice Three Timesheet
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:23.380
2. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, + 0.479
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, + 0.490
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, + 0.608
5. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, + 1.683
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, + 1.712
7. Romain Grosjean, Haas, + 2.201
8. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, + 2.568
9. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, + 2.269
10. Kevin Magnussen, Haas, + 2.758
11. Felipe Massa, Williams, + 2.857
12. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, + 2.889
13. Sergio Perez, Force India, + 3.077
14. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, + 3.176
15. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, + 3.319
16. Esteban Ocon, Force India, + 3.723
17. Lance Stroll, Williams, + 3.947
18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, + 4.022
19. Jolyon Palmer, Renault. + 4.940
20. Antonio Giovinazzi, Sauber, + 5.203
Top six drivers set fastest lap times on ultrasofts; all other drivers on supersofts
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