Rosberg on top on the last session of 2014

Neither of the Mercedes drivers were in a rush to get the show going given the conditions in FP3 were easily 20’C hotter than what they would experience later in qualifying.

Taking almost half the session to post a time, Hamilton and Rosberg slotted into third and fourth places respectively, behind the supersoft tyre time of Fernando Alonso and the time set on the softs by Valtteri Bottas.

Rosberg improved to take the lead with a 1:42.635 while Hamilton followed his team-mate up the order but was 0.128s off the pace.

Swapping to the supersofts for the final 15 minutes of practice – the last practice of the season – Rosberg upped his pace to a 1:41.424. Hamilton’s effort was hampered slightly by a slide through the final corner and he crossed the line 0.369s down.

The Championship protagonists had another go at it but neither improved their overall time. They finished first and second ahead of Felipe Massa, who was 1.005s down.

Alonso was fourth despite another aborted practice. The Spaniard, who missed the bulk of FP2 with an electrical problem, was quickly into the action on Saturday afternoon, covering eight laps that included a brief stint on the supersoft tyres, before heading back into the pits for a new engine.

 

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:41.424 19
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:41.793 0.369 17
3 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:42.429 1.005 18
4 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:42.653 1.229 8
5 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:42.679 1.255 19
6 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:42.768 1.344 20
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:42.773 1.349 14
8 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:42.794 1.370 19
9 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:42.809 1.385 20
10 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:43.038 1.614 14
11 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:43.112 1.688 13
12 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:43.352 1.928 20
13 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:43.360 1.936 19
14 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:43.501 2.077 18
15 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:43.643 2.219 24
16 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1:43.718 2.294 17
17 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:43.778 2.354 18
18 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:44.022 2.598 22
19 10 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:45.044 3.620 16
20 46 Will Stevens Caterham-Renault 1:45.959 4.535 21