Australia – Free Practice 3: Grosjean before the rain

It is under a threatening sky that the third and final practice session of the Australian Grand Prix takes place.

**The session is underway**, and it’s Esteban Gutiérrez who takes to the track first, in his Sauber. The drivers mainly choose to go out on medium (white) tires, the hardest of the weekend, because the temperature has dropped significantly compared to yesterday and using the super soft tires would be pointless, as their degradation is higher in these conditions. The installation laps follow one another. The drivers don’t want to delay before posting a time, and Mark Webber sets a time of 1:31.171. The McLarens are on track, and Jenson Button complains of understeer – as he did last year – and graining.

After ten minutes, Fernando Alonso takes the lead with a time of 1:27.000, before Romain Grosjean surpasses him with a 1:26.929. But soon, rain arrives and torrents of water inundate the Albert Park circuit. The drivers cautiously return to the pits and will stay there for a while, using the time to change helmets and adjust the car for such conditions. The race director specifies that DRS is prohibited.

After half an hour, Grosjean leads ahead of Alonso, Massa, Di Resta, and Räikkönen, but the wet track prevents any improvement. It is no longer raining on the track, and a few drivers venture out, starting with Massa’s Ferrari on wet (blue) tires. The Brazilian is followed by Hülkenberg and Gutiérrez (Sauber), as well as his teammate, Alonso.

**After forty minutes**, the track dries out fairly quickly but the times remain far from the best. Rosberg is struggling with getting his tires up to temperature. He is one of the first to switch to intermediate tires (green), which seem to be the best compromise.

10 minutes before the end of the session, Sebastian Vettel stops on track, in a run-off area. The Red Bull driver experiences a hydraulic problem, as his team informs him, and the session is over for him. Grosjean, the leader, should no longer be worried, as the best times on intermediate tires are more than 10 seconds off his 1:26.929. Additionally, the tires are wearing out quickly due to the track conditions. Hülkenberg has a minor scare in turn 12 by going slightly wide, but the German recovers.

The session concludes with the best time, albeit not very significant, from Romain Grosjean, ahead of the two Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.

Results of Free Practice 3 of the Melbourne Grand Prix: