Spain – Free Practice 3: Rosberg and Mercedes well positioned before qualifying

The conditions are good for this third and final practice session of the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix.

At the beginning of the session, the majority of the drivers hit the track for an installation lap on hard tires – with orange bands, some attempting practice starts at the end of the pit lane. No issues, although Rosberg complains about his DRS even though it appears to be working, and Hamilton reports that his steering isn’t straight with his steering wheel.

After 10 minutes, Kevin Magnussen is the first to set a time, 1:29.959 for the Dane driving his McLaren on hard tires. It could have been better without a small mistake at the end of the lap. Magnussen continues and improves his time by 8 tenths while there are still few drivers on the track.

Magnussen continues to improve in his third lap as Ericsson joins him on the timesheet but is almost 7 seconds behind. Vettel, Grosjean, and Sutil then intersperse between the two men as the drivers take to the track. Shortly after, while he is back in the pits, Magnussen is beaten by Kimi Räikkönen who takes the lead in his first timed lap. A few minutes later, his Ferrari teammate surpasses him, with Alonso clocking the fastest time in his first timed lap, much to the delight of the fans in the stands and around the circuit.

Shortly before mid-session, Nico Rosberg imitates Räikkönen and Alonso by taking the lead on his first timed lap, on hard tires like most of the drivers on track. The German is the first to set a time in 1:27 during this session. Shortly after, like his teammate, Hamilton takes the lead on his first timed lap but Rosberg immediately responds to reclaim his position with a lap of 1:26.534.

After 30 minutes, Vettel is the first to hit the track with mediums, but not everything goes well on the first lap, with a detour into the grass and dust at the exit of turn 4. Massa, on the other hand, takes to the track for the first time in the session. For his first good timed lap on mediums, Vettel clocks a 1:28.085, a second better than with the hard tires, 1:29.061.

After 40 minutes, the track activity resumes with renewed intensity, notably with Räikkönen returning to the track, having fitted his Ferrari with medium tires for this end of the session. A few minutes later, it was Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s turn to do the same.

As expected, Nico Rosberg improves his mark for 1st place, 1:25.887. While Lewis Hamilton was very close to his teammate, he eventually decides to return to the pits as Max Chilton has just stopped his Marussia in the gravel, causing a yellow flag.

While the on-track activity is disrupted by this yellow flag, Rosberg and Mercedes take the opportunity to practice, with a pit stop followed by a starting test at the end of the pit lane for the German.

7 minutes to the end, the yellow flag disappears and the drivers gradually return to the track to set new laps. Magnussen improves and places 3rd but is still almost 2 seconds behind Rosberg. Hamilton, on the other hand, is satisfied with his time and will not return to the track.

Alonso is on the attack with the medium tires but has to settle for 3rd place, 1.3 seconds behind Rosberg. With the medium tires, Massa also improves, 8 tenths better, which seems to be the difference between the two compounds, medium and hard, on the Catalunya circuit.

Not everyone improves with the mediums because there is traffic. A small off-track excursion for Kamui Kobayashi to conclude these free practice 3 sessions of the Spanish Grand Prix. No change at the top.

Session over: Nico Rosberg ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, and Romain Grosjean.