Singapore Grand Prix: Practice Session 3
Bettor.com welcomes you to the third and final practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix! This is the last ‘informal’ outing for the drivers to get a feel of the track. Qualifiers shall succeed as this event unfolds. Presently, it’s the two Red Bulls
featuring Championship leader Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, 24 points behind the Australian that have set the pace in the first two sessions respectively. The 60 minute session may set a precedent for qualifying so hold on to your seats!
The temperature is a cool 28°C. The forecast is clear. The track however is damp.
The hour long session is underway as drivers are out conducting their installation laps. All 22 cars retire to their respective garages afterwards.
15 minutes into the final session and no times in yet but di Grassi is out on track. The Virgin driver goes on to set the first, and effectively, the fastest timed lap of the session. It would be naïve to assume that this slot is going to remain the same
with nearly three quarters of P3 to go.
30 minutes, nearing the halfway mark, it’s Renault’s Robert Kubica who leads. It should be reminded to all our readers that Ferrari is not using the F-duct today as well as the drivers are looking for as much down force as possible.
McLaren Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton has a little moment with Hulkenberg which goes onto to suggest the varying amounts of grip on the patchy slippery track.
A Red Bull is on the top again. The constructor’s presently leading the standings has gone on with business as usual. Will we see a Red Bull 1-2 at the end of qualifying? On the other hand, Ferrari’s quest for down force seems to be working as Alonso is
2nd.
Klien goes faster than team mate Bruno Senna in the HRT F1 by a prominent seven-tenths. Senna responds quickly and has bettered his time now. On the downside, the HRT’s are nearly 2 seconds slower than the Lotus. Apparently, the ‘new upgrade’ for Lotus is
doing wonders.
50 minutes up, the last 10 minutes shows Michael Schumacher ahead of German teammate Rosberg. Vettel, Webber and Hamilton are out on option tyres.
The forecast suggest that there won’t be any rain for the evening. However the only concern is will the track dry up fast enough for qualifying? It seems, teams being able to stretch till Q3 shall have an advantage as the relatively dryer track will greatly
improve lap times.
Qualifying ends with Vettel topping the third practice session. Alonso takes a well deserved 2nd and Hamilton is behind in 3rd. Massa takes 4th and Mercedes’ Rosberg takes 5th. While Mark Webber, Hulkenberg, Kubica,
Sutil and Buemi round off the top 10.
It’s going to be a fascinating qualifying session.
Keep reading…
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