Great Britain – Free Practice 3: Nico Rosberg confirms for a Mercedes double

On this Saturday morning, the air temperature is 16°C and the track temperature is 19°C. But the most important thing is that the weather is nice and the track is dry. All the drivers are taking advantage by heading out as soon as the pit lane lights turn green. Most are simply doing an installation lap at the start of the session. The first to set a time is Kimi Räikkönen, at 1:34.367. He continues on and improves with a 1:34.184.

His time will be beaten after nine minutes by the McLaren of Sergio Pérez, who improves by 0.03 seconds to 1:34.154. The Mexican does even better immediately after, being the first of the day to break the 1:34 mark, with a time of 1:33.607. Valtteri Bottas honors Williams’ 600th Grand Prix by topping the timesheet, by only four-thousandths of a second!

After a quarter of an hour, the session is marked by the complete blowout of Sergio Perez’s left rear tire right after the daunting right-hand turn of the old pit straight, Copse. As large pieces of tire are on the track, the marshals wave the red flag, allowing the McLaren driver to bring his damaged car back to the pit while the marshals work to remove all the debris.

At the resumption of the session at 10:20 local time, the standings are currently led by Valtteri Bottas, ahead of Sergio Pérez and Felipe Massa (1:34.011). All the drivers hurry back onto the track to maximize their track time since the clock doesn’t stop during the red flag period. Meanwhile, McLaren mechanics are working diligently on Sergio Pérez’s car, whose floor has been damaged by the tire blowout.

Once hostilities resumed, Mark Webber set the new benchmark with 1:32.560, then 1:32.369, while the debris from Sergio Pérez’s tire was brought into the Pirelli garage, where they shielded themselves from prying cameras by lowering the curtain.

At mid-session, the Australian is still in the lead, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne (1:32.580) and Paul di Resta (1:32.935), while the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are respectively 18th and 19th, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel in 20th. Lewis Hamilton charges five minutes later, moving to the top spot with a time of 1:32.317, better than Nico Rosberg’s time in yesterday afternoon’s session. The 2008 world champion then improves with a time of 1:32.140, while Nico Rosberg places just behind him, with a time of 1:32.192.

At 10:40, Mark Webber took the lead with a time of 1:32.078 before both Mercedes drivers put on a show again by both going under the 1:32 mark (1:31.750 for Lewis Hamilton, 1:31.833 for Nico Rosberg). Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel still hasn’t completed a significant lap and remains 20th, and the mechanics continue to work on Sergio Pérez’s car.

With ten minutes remaining in the session, the Mexican driver is able to get back into his seat and return to the track while work is being done on Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. The session seems to be over for the Brazilian. Four minutes to the end, Sebastian Vettel finally achieves a fast lap and ranks third, with a time of 1:32.037.

In his last lap, Nico Rosberg overtakes his teammate, with a time of 1:31.487. Thus, the two Mercedes drivers are ahead of the two Red Bull drivers. Daniel Ricciardo confirms his good form over the weekend by finishing 6th.

Free Practice 3 Results of the 2013 British Grand Prix:

From our special correspondent in Silverstone