Bahrain – Free Practice 3: Hamilton and Mercedes at ease, Vettel off track
During a session marked by Sebastian Vettel's off-track excursion, without serious consequences, it was once again the Mercedes team that largely dominated the proceedings. Behind them, the battle for positions on the grid will be intense.
Relaxed, Sebastian Vettel, in his RB10, grabs a photographer’s camera and takes a photo from the driver’s point of view.
We’re off for this last practice session, with Pastor Maldonado being the first on the track, followed by a large part of the pack. In the McLaren garage, Jenson Button’s car is unattended and they don’t seem ready to hit the track, given the lack of activity around the MP4-29. The same goes for Williams, as the drivers indicated yesterday that they feel they don’t need much running after extensive winter testing on the Sakhir circuit.
The first driver to set a time is Sutil: the German strings together laps on medium tires. Still difficulties on the Lotus side: this time, it’s a lack of front grip that’s causing problems for Grosjean.
Many small errors to report, with somewhat wide exits for Maldonado, Grosjean, Vettel, and Räikkönen in particular, especially in the corner following the back straight where the wind seems to be an issue. The Mercedes begin their first flying laps after 25 minutes. Hamilton quickly takes the lead with a 1:37.340.
At mid-session, Rosberg takes the lead, ahead of Hamilton, Button, Hülkenberg, Kvyat, Pérez, Räikkönen, Alonso, Vettel, and Magnussen. On Grosjean’s side, the car is very difficult to drive: “I have absolutely no grip… I don’t know if it’s the tires or what, but it’s very bad,” he says over the radio. The Williams finally leave the pits.
Räikkönen is the first driver to switch to soft tires in this session. In turn 2, Vettel went off track and got stuck in the gravel trap. Most drivers have come in to fit soft tires.
Quickly, Hamilton retakes the lead from Rosberg, but the two are within a tenth of a second. Behind them, there’s a fierce battle among the McLarens, Force Indias, Williams, and Ferraris. The qualifying session is likely to be quite tight starting from the second row!
Finally, it is once again the Mercedes that take the double ahead of the surprising Force India of Sergio Pérez and the two Williams!
Free Practice 3 Results of the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix:
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
1 | Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:35:324 | 12 | |
2 | Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:35:439 | +0.115 | 12 |
3 | Perez | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:35:868 | +0.544 | 10 |
4 | Bottas | Williams Martini Racing | 1:36:116 | +0.792 | 10 |
5 | Massa | Williams Martini Racing | 1:36:364 | +1.040 | 8 |
6 | Button | McLaren Mercedes | 1:36:394 | +1.070 | 8 |
7 | Alonso | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:36:454 | +1.130 | 12 |
8 | Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:36:455 | +1.131 | 11 |
9 | Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:36:680 | +1.356 | 16 |
10 | Räikkönen | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:36:772 | +1.448 | 13 |
11 | Magnussen | McLaren Mercedes | 1:36:822 | +1.498 | 8 |
12 | Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:37:030 | +1.706 | 11 |
13 | Ricciardo | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:37:119 | +1.795 | 11 |
14 | Gutierrez | Sauber F1 Team | 1:37:325 | +2.001 | 18 |
15 | Sutil | Sauber F1 Team | 1:38:089 | +2.765 | 24 |
16 | Kobayashi | Caterham F1 Team | 1:38:400 | +3.076 | 17 |
17 | Bianchi | Marussia F1 Team | 1:38:736 | +3.412 | 15 |
18 | Maldonado | Lotus F1 Team | 1:38:880 | +3.556 | 21 |
19 | Ericsson | Caterham F1 Team | 1:38:971 | +3.647 | 18 |
20 | Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | 1:39:208 | +3.884 | 17 |
21 | Vettel | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:39:225 | +3.901 | 8 |
22 | Chilton | Marussia F1 Team | 1:39:597 | +4.273 | 14 |
