Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel tops Free Practice 3 of Silverstone Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel has topped the final Free Practice session of the Silverstone Grand Prix of the 2011 Formula 1 season.
The defending champion posted a fastest time of 1 minute and 31.401 seconds in the space of 17 laps. The German waited for the track to dry down after slight rain interrupted the session’s opening and posted a fastest time in the final moments of the session.
Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber finished third in the session and was only a fraction slower than the German. The Aussie faced an oil leak in the opening half of the session and had to pull out from the session. He waited in the pits in the opening half and
came out in the final moments to post a time which would place him third in the final standings.
Splitting the two Red Bulls was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who posted a fastest time just halfway through the session. He did a fastest lap time of 1 minute and 31.464 seconds. The Spaniard’s teammate Felipe Massa was fourth in the final standings with less
than a one-second gap.
Williams’ Pastor Maldonado was fifth on the time charts as he came out in the final moments to post a decent lap time. Meanwhile, the other Williams car of Rubens Barrichello was down in 14th place.
McLaren’s Jenson Button came sixth while Lewis Hamilton was down in the 13th place in the final standings. Both British drivers were a bit slower than expected but did some handsome laps to collect useful data for the qualifiers and race.
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, who crashed in first session on Friday, came seventh on the final standings while his teammate Sergio Perez ended ninth.
Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg finished eighth while his teammate Michael Schumacher’s car developed an engine problem and remained in the pits after doing only 11 laps.
Completing the top ten list was Force India’s Paul di Resta.
The qualifiers will follow later on Saturday July 9, 2011.
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