Hamilton 0.063 faster than Rosberg on soft tyre; Red Bull are Mercedes' nearest challengers; Huge Ericsson crash suspended P3
Saturday 9 July 2016 14:17, UK
Lewis Hamilton sealed a practice hat-trick after setting the fastest time of the British GP weekend so far in P3 despite the damp conditions.
Hamilton's benchmark lap of 1:30.904 was just 0.063 seconds faster than Nico Rosberg's best effort and came in a frantic final five minutes of the session after it was suspended following a huge crash from Sauber's Marcus Ericsson.
Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen followed the Mercedes duo on the same soft tyres, with the Australian 0.5s shy of Hamilton's benchmark, as Red Bull maintained their slight Silverstone advantage over Ferrari.
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen ran in fifth and ninth, though a far more worrying prospect for the Scuderia's German was a suspected gearbox failure on his final lap. Any change to the gearbox would result in a second-straight five-place grid penalty, and Vettel threw his hands up in the air in frustration when the issue struck.
A Friday morning downpour meant teams refrained from running the slicks in the opening stages but it was Nico Rosberg who led the early running, with the German eager to rack up as many laps as possible following his P2 no-show.
But team-mate Lewis Hamilton won the opening battle, jumping to the top of the leaderboard on his first flying lap on the softs. However, just as the Brit was adjusting to the drying track, the session was red-flagged with around 20 minutes remaining after an almighty shunt at Stowe for Ericsson.
The Swede's Sauber caught the Astroturf on the exit of the high-speed corner, losing traction and sending his car onto a heavy collision course with the inside tyre barrier. Thankfully, Ericsson was unhurt, heading to hospital for routine check-ups, while the cash-strapped team now face a serious repair job ahead of qualifying, with the bodywork and floor heavily damaged and the rear suspension ripped off.
There were just five minutes remaining in P3 when the session was restarted and all remaining drivers rushed out on the soft compound in a bid to improve their time and gain crucial track experience ahead of qualifying, which starts at 1pm on Sky Sports F1.
Valtteri Bottas led the chasing pack for Williams in sixth while Fernando Alonso, a place back, will once again be encouraged with the McLaren's pace. Team-mate Jenson Button ran in 12th.
It was Hamilton who stole the show in front of an adoring home crowd, however, with final effort nearly a second quicker than the times we saw during Friday's practice sessions, and also faster than last year's pole-setter.
"This is Lewis's track - and he's loving every minute of it," said Sky F1 pundit and 1996 world champion Damon Hill.
Practice Three timesheet
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:30.904
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:30.967
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:31.488
4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:31.561
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:32.049
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:32.049
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:32.754
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:32.798
9. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:32.833
10. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:32.889
11. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:32.895
12. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:33.042
13. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:33.344
14. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:33.361
15. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:33.440
16: Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:33.538
17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:33.710
18. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:33.769
19. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:34.049
20. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:34.471
21. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:34.551
22. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:34.658
Watch the British GP live on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up underway at 11:30am. Or watch the race without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV.
