Rosberg tops final practice

Nico Rosberg was fastest in FP3 with a time of 1:41.856. He was two tenths ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton in second in what was a tough session for the World Champion; firstly he span at turn 6 before running wide at the same corner on his qualifying simulation. Another lap was lost when he was blocked by his team mate at the turns 11/12/13 chicane.

Like FP1, times in this session are not entirely representative as the twilight conditions of qualifying and the race are vastly different to what is seen in the morning practice sessions.

Sergio Perez set an impressive lap time at the end of the session just six tenths off the pace to put him 4th, splitting the two Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, both of whom feel they will be closer to Mercedes come the race than practice has shown.

Daniel Ricciardo used the Red Bull’s strong pace in the tight and twisty final sector to his advantage and was 6th fastest in the session. His team mate Daniil Kvyat, however, was unable to set a lap time after an electrical issue kept him in the garage.

Nico Hulkenberg was 7th fastest ahead of the two Williams with Felipe Massa leading Valtteri Bottas. Both drivers are expecting to be further up the grid than this in qualifying. Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10.

Jenson Button was 11th fastest with McLaren looking as potential Q2 contenders ahead of qualifying, although Fernando Alonso was just 16th.

Will Stevens was ahead of Roberto Merhi, putting him in a good position in Manor’s intra-team battle for a seat in 2016. The Spaniard is making his F1 return after a hiatus of three races in which Alexander Rossi deputised for the American portion of the season.

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