China – Free Practice 3: Alonso sets the fastest time before qualifying

The conditions are mild in China. It is 25°C in the air, 34°C on the track, and these conditions – despite the pollution – will persist today for the qualifications and tomorrow during the race.

It’s 5:00 am in France, the Shanghai track is declared open, and it’s Charles Pic in the Caterham who sets off first, accompanied by Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso. The Frenchman sets an initial time of 1:41.995 while Ricciardo reports on the radio about a track that remains very dirty.

After ten minutes, all the drivers have completed their out lap. Romain Grosjean, looking to reassure himself, is the first of the Lotus drivers to set a time. He takes the lead with a 1:38.717. His teammate is a few hundred meters further down the track. Räikkönen crosses the line nearly 4 tenths faster at 1:38.323. The benchmark time is quickly lowered by Nico Rosberg. The Mercedes driver sets a time of 1:37.699. He is therefore more than 6 tenths faster than the Finn!

**After twenty minutes**, only 14 drivers have set a time. The Ferraris have only done their out lap. It’s quite warm this weekend. An unsettling image, a Chinese ambulance is seen passing through the pit lane. It stops in front of the Marussia garage where apparently a mechanic has injured his arm.

Lewis Hamilton sets his first timed lap in the Mercedes. He positions himself ahead of his teammate with an advantage of more than 6 tenths! 1:37 for the Briton. Sebastian Vettel is also on track, slotting in between the two Mercedes in provisional second position.

The Mercedes duel continues with a new timed lap by Nico Rosberg. The German closes to within 0.3 seconds of his teammate and regains second place from Sebastian Vettel.

There are just over 30 minutes left in this session and Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Mark Webber (Red Bull) as well as the two Ferraris have yet to set a time.

We are halfway through this final practice session. Hamilton is at the top of the timesheet, ahead of his teammate Rosberg. Vettel is third, just ahead of Räikkönen and Perez.

On their side, the Ferrari drivers finally decide to head out on the track, accompanied by Mark Webber. The Red Bull driver sets his first lap time at 1:37.9, less than four-tenths off his German teammate.

Fernando Alonso also sets a time of 1:37.9. The Spaniard is in 5th place, with his teammate Felipe Massa in 6th, one-tenth behind. It should be noted that the first laps are done on medium (white) tires.

After forty minutes, the hierarchy seems to be taking shape. In the standings, we see the Mercedes, followed by the Red Bull, themselves closely followed by the Ferrari.

There is little happening on the track. The drivers are doing few laps, 10 laps on average in 35 minutes.

There are 20 minutes left in this session and Nico Rosberg is the first driver to put on the soft tires. He will abort his fast lap at the moment he slightly loses his rear end. He explains over the radio that he felt a spring break. Back to the garage for the German who gets out of his car; session likely over.

It is finally his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who is the first driver from the top teams to set a time on soft tires. He gains 9 tenths. With an initial aborted lap where his first sector was 2 tenths faster, we can therefore estimate a difference between soft and hard tires of about 1 second.

There are ten minutes remaining in this session. The Lotuses also put on the soft tires. Kimi Räikkönen is 5 tenths slower than the Mercedes. He slots into provisional second place. Grosjean improves but to a lesser extent, placing 7th. Sutil’s Force India is also on softs. The returnee from Germany takes second place.

Ferraris are also on soft tires. Alonso sets the best time ahead of his teammate by 6 tenths, relegating Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes to 3rd place.

During his first run on soft tires, Webber places 4th, one second off Alonso’s best time. Vettel is also on track. The reigning triple world champion does slightly better by a few tenths.

It’s over in Shanghai. The Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa clocked the best times in this final session. They are ahead of Hamilton in the Mercedes and the Red Bulls. Sutil and Räikkönen seem to be the only drivers capable of fighting for the big points. The McLarens are also in the top 10.

Attention, Nico Rosberg was unable to set a time on soft tires. He remains one of the favorites for pole position.

Note the very poor performance of Romain Grosjean. The French driver is still struggling with his car. He can’t find the right settings and only ranks 18th, more than a second behind his teammate. He is indeed the only French driver to position himself behind his teammate with an equivalent car. Vergne is ahead of Ricciardo, Bianchi ahead of Chilton, and Pic ahead of Van der Garde.

Meet at 8 a.m., in just under 2 hours to follow the live broadcast of the Chinese Grand Prix qualifications.

Results of the Free Practice 3 of the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix: