Spain – Free Practice 3: Vettel on the Edge

Once again, a clear and sunny sky welcomes the drivers. Kobayashi and Kovalainen are the first to head out of the pit lane for the traditional wave of installation laps. Fernando Alonso takes the opportunity to greet his fans before returning to the pits.

However, it takes a quarter of an hour to see Charles Pic sign the first timed lap of the session in 1:28.495. But a yellow flag interrupts the drivers on track in their momentum as Romain Grosjean, visibly a victim of a mechanical failure, stops his car in the old section of the circuit, at turn No. 10.

At the green flag, Ricciardo and then Rosberg improve the best time, with the German at 1:25.158 while traffic increases on the track. Sergio Pérez manages nonetheless to take the best time at 1:24.689. Lewis Hamilton struggles to overcome the traffic but eventually sets a personal best lap at 1:24.907, placing him third. On his first timed lap, Sebastian Vettel moves into seventh place at 1:24.967.

At mid-session, Sergio Pérez leads Maldonado, Hamilton, Vergne, Rosberg, Kobayashi, Vettel, Ricciardo, Räikkönen, and Webber. Fernando Alonso and then Sebastian Vettel climb to 3rd place, at the expense of Hamilton, while Nico Rosberg puts on the yellow-sided soft tires. The German logically secures the best time with 1:24.070.

Vergne then Pérez improve the time of the Chinese Grand Prix winner, with the Mexican stopping the clock at 1:23.742. On soft tires, the Mercedes drivers are running more than a second off Pérez’s best time, set with the same tires, likely indicating tests with a heavy fuel load.

As the final quarter-hour of the session approaches, Romain Grosjean prepares in his pit, ready to go out on the orders of his team when necessary. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso manages to get within less than a tenth of Sergio Pérez’s best time, on soft tires. Kimi Räikkönen positions himself in the slipstream of the Ferrari but is soon displaced by Jenson Button.

Set to achieve the best time, Lewis Hamilton nevertheless gets stuck behind Karthikeyan’s HRT, hindered by Räikkönen’s Lotus, in the chicane. The Finn apologizes with a wave to the Briton while Kobayashi takes the best time in 1:23.250, only to concede it a few seconds later to Pastor Maldonado with 1:23.336.

While Timo Glock stops his car on the zebra crossing at the end of the pit lane, Sebastian Vettel snatches the best time at the last moment with 1:23.168, overtaking Pastor Maldonado, Kamui Kobayashi, Mark Webber, and Sergio Perez. Lewis Hamilton, who could have aimed for the best time, settles for 16th place, while Romain Grosjean, affected by a fuel supply issue, was forced to prematurely end his session and could not return to the track despite his team’s efforts.

Free Practice 3 Results of the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix: