South Korea – Free Practice 3: Vettel and Red Bull in position for qualifying

Ideal weather this morning in Yeongam for the drivers despite the risk of rain announced earlier in the week, which should delight both spectators and the teams. On Friday, Lewis Hamilton clearly established himself as the benchmark to beat ahead of Sebastian Vettel on a lap, while the German showed impressive performance on long runs.

At the beginning of the session, the drivers complete their usual reconnaissance lap before returning to the pits, allowing them to assess the track’s conditions compared to the previous day. Charles Pic is the first driver to set a timed lap at 1:43.170, ahead of his teammate. Lewis Hamilton is plagued by doubts in his seat, the Englishman complaining about his car during his installation lap.

After 15 minutes, only 6 drivers have set a time: Sutil, van der Garde, Pic, Chilton, di Resta, and Bianchi. But the appearance of the first driver from a top team, Mark Webber, puts everyone in agreement by improving the reference time by more than two seconds while Jules Bianchi makes a mistake in the second sector. Kimi Räikkönen is the first to get within less than a second of the Australian, followed by Romain Grosjean, who is half a second faster than the Finn. Sebastian Vettel follows and positions himself between Mark Webber and the Lotus drivers, all on medium tires. However, the German subsequently records the best times in all three sectors consecutively to achieve the best time of the session, as the Mercedes drivers take to the track.

Unfortunately, Lewis Hamilton blocks Nico Rosberg, who was on a flying lap, causing the German to lose a lot of time and forcing him to attempt a second flying lap. The Mercedes driver finishes his lap a full second behind Sebastian Vettel, while Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton take 3rd and 5th positions respectively, with Romain Grosjean in between. Felipe Massa, however, is struggling and only ranks ahead of the Caterham and Marussia.

After mid-session, we find the two Red Bull drivers in front, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Romain Grosjean, before Mark Webber takes the lead with a new fast lap. The drivers gradually improve their times, allowing Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to position themselves just behind Sebastian Vettel. But the Englishman improves again to take first place with a record in the second sector, nothing seems to be able to prevent the Mercedes driver from securing another pole position in the afternoon.

**15 minutes from the end,** it’s time to prepare for the qualifying session. All the drivers return to the pits to prepare for a fast lap on super-soft tires. Mark Webber is one of the first to set off with a very calm out lap to save his tires in anticipation of the third sector. Indeed, Friday showed that the super-soft tires suffered throughout the lap until they slightly collapsed during the third sector. After two sectors, the Australian’s car is already struggling with oversteer while he sets the three best sectors with logically the best time of the session. But he’s surpassed by Sebastian Vettel while both Ferrari drivers fail to come within more than half a second of the triple world champion’s time. The 1:38 mark is surpassed by the German.

All the drivers are on track with five minutes remaining, which does not make life easier for those stuck in traffic. Nico Rosberg is in 3rd position, while Romain Grosjean is in fifth place, eight-tenths behind Vettel, but with a massive slide in the third sector, the Frenchman seems to be getting the upper hand over his teammate who may already be demotivated for the end of the season at Lotus. Lewis Hamilton is behind Nico Rosberg, with both Mercedes drivers four-tenths behind the Red Bulls, who have found a good improvement during the evening.

It is therefore Sebastian Vettel who finishes this first session on top ahead of Mark Webber, while the two Mercedes drivers are lurking. Behind these two teams, an intense battle is expected between the Lotus and Ferrari drivers. The fight for the top 10 will likely be shared by McLaren and Sauber.

Results of Free Practice 3 of the 2013 South Korean Grand Prix: