Turkish GP – Free Practice 3: Vettel returns for a small tenth

After a Friday marked by rain, Saturday begins under better conditions, even though temperatures remain relatively cool with 14°C in the air and 24°C on the track. Many drivers therefore start as soon as the green flag waves, among them D’Ambrosio and Trulli, but the drivers are content with installation laps, particularly Sebastian Vettel who needs to check that everything is functioning correctly on his car.

D’Ambrosio sets the first reference time at 1:34.464 after more than 10 minutes of the session, before improving it to 1:33.312. However, Michael Schumacher significantly improves with a 1:27.619, a time that withstands the combined assaults of Button, Rosberg, and Hamilton. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel returns to the track for his first timed lap since his crash yesterday, where the German reportedly sustained more than 5.7 lateral G, according to his doctor.

Hamilton improves Schumacher’s time before leaving it to Nico Rosberg: 1.27.358. Sebastian Vettel takes 5th position with a 1.29.460 in his first flying lap. The yellow flag is deployed on the track after Jaime Alguersuari spins at turn 4: end of session for the Spaniard.

The Ferrari drivers finally begin the quest for the clock, on hard tires, while Vettel improves again with a 1:27.134 and takes the top of the timesheet. His teammate is close to taking the best time as well but, hindered by a Virgin at the braking of the final chicane, has to settle for 3rd place. Alonso records a time of 1:28.137 and places 8th, while Vitaly Petrov improves his 4th time to 1:27.466.

Rubens Barrichello is struggling with his car and has to settle for the 23rd and last timed lap at 1:33.669, behind the Virgin and HRT.

At mid-session, Sebastian Vettel still holds the best time ahead of Rosberg, Webber, Petrov, Hamilton, Schumacher, Button, Alonso, Heidfeld, and Buemi.

No driver improves in the following laps, and Nico Rosberg is one of the most active on track. However, with 20 minutes remaining in the session, the German driver has a big scare when he slides sideways in turn 8, narrowly avoiding going off track. Fortunately, it’s more fear than harm for Nico, who can resume racing after already nearly making a mistake at the pit entry at the beginning of the session.

And it’s Sebastien Buemi who then takes the best time, on soft tires while the two McLarens are working on hard tires. Some drivers also switch to soft tires like Felipe Massa, who sets the fastest time, but Sebastian Vettel, despite limited laps, gets very close to his time even though he’s on hard tires. However, the world champion returns to the pits after having two very fast sectors, but encounters issues with the Kers.

Times are dropping with the outings of Ferrari and Mercedes, with a very fast Nico Rosberg taking the lead before his seven-time world champion teammate snatches the top spot from him. With ten minutes to go, Fernando Alonso is still plagued by a reliability issue that blocks his gear changes, forcing him to return to the pits.

The Red Bulls also make their appearance on soft tires and equipped with KERS. The world champion sets the fastest time by a small thousandth but is hindered by one of the two HRTs. As for Mark Webber, he intersperses himself between the two Mercedes drivers.

The battle promises to be tight between Red Bull and Mercedes, and the results of the work done during the break will be seen at 1 PM this Saturday during the qualifying sessions, which will be commented live on Motors Inside.

Results of Free Practice 3 – 2011 Turkish Grand Prix: