Austria – Free Practice 3: Vettel Delivers, Alonso Stops

Everything was decided in the first half-hour of the session. In turn, Rosberg, Hamilton, and then Vettel set the fastest laps. The reigning world champion has been off track several times since the beginning of the weekend, mainly due to a rather aggressive driving style. He finishes second, just behind Sebastian Vettel, but three-tenths ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg (5th). Räikkönen once again finishes third.

It’s better for Williams: Massa and Bottas are sixth and seventh respectively. Meanwhile, at Lotus, there is a slight regression; Maldonado, in 9th, is ahead of Romain Grosjean, who encountered a few technical issues.

On the other hand, things are going from bad to worse for Red Bull, with Kvyat finishing 14th and Ricciardo only 16th. Meanwhile, at McLaren, disaster is looming: Button, who also received a 25-place penalty due to another V6 engine replacement, finishes in 18th place. Fernando Alonso does slightly better (16th), but was again forced to abandon the session after about 25 minutes due to a gearbox problem. He wasn’t able to complete his flying lap, which caused a red flag.

Shortly after, most teams switch to super-soft tires… but that’s when the rain starts to interfere. The intermediate tires are not enough, and the mistakes of Nico Hülkenberg – 11th, eight-tenths behind his teammate Perez (4th) – can attest to that. Some drivers then opt for wet tires, such as Toro Rosso drivers Verstappen, 8th, and Sainz, 14th.

The adverse weather conditions will certainly liven up this afternoon’s qualifying session, making it all the more uncertain.