Australia – Free Practice 3: Hamilton makes an appearance

After a rainy Friday, it is under a beautiful sun that the drivers leave the pit lane for their traditional installation laps at the start of the session. The air temperature is then 19°C, with the track heated to 29°C.

Nico Rosberg is the first to start the clock but loses control of his W03 while braking at the first corner. The German is followed by his teammate, Michael Schumacher, who also struggles while braking at turn 3. Rosberg sets the first benchmark time on medium tires: 1:29.788. On the next lap, the Mercedes driver naturally improves to 1:26.982.

The Silver Arrow is, however, dislodged by Lewis Hamilton’s MP4-27 with a time of 1:26.620, but the Englishman’s time doesn’t withstand the charge from Michael Schumacher, who is equipped with yellow-sided soft tires: 1:26.234 for the Mercedes driver.

After spending some time in the gravel trap during Free Practice 1, Felipe Massa once again loses control of his F2012, this time at the penultimate braking point: the driver from São Paulo departs without damage. The same mishap occurs for Bruno Senna a few minutes later: the Brazilian spins off into the grass but manages to make it back to the pits without any damage.

After switching to soft tires, Nico Rosberg takes the lead on the timesheet by clocking a lap in 1:25.929. Mid-session, the German is ahead of Schumacher, Hamilton, Vettel, Button, Webber, Kobayashi, Vergne, Grosjean, and Ricciardo.

While the Red Bull drivers continue on medium tires, Lewis Hamilton sets the stage for what could be the fastest time but encounters Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham CT01 in the final sector: the McLaren driver gives up and returns to the pits.

A few minutes later, after setting the third-best time on medium tires, Sebastian Vettel loses control of his RB8 by clipping the curb and ends his run in the gravel trap, from which he cannot escape, causing a yellow flag.

At the start of the last ten minutes, Romain Grosjean brings his Lotus E20 to the top of the rankings with a time of 1:25.758 on soft tires. Threatened by Button and Webber, the Frenchman’s time withstands their assaults, thanks in part to traffic and the yellow flag caused by Michael Schumacher, who also loses control of his car while braking and then gets stuck in the gravel trap.

With a lap time of 1:25.681, Lewis Hamilton takes the best time of the session on soft tires. The Englishman is ahead, under the checkered flag, of Romain Grosjean, Mark Webber, Jenson Button, and Nico Rosberg.

Free Practice 3 Results of the 2012 Australian Grand Prix: