Free Practice 3: Hamilton is once again the fastest

In this third and final practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the competitive teams from yesterday showed up again today. Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren once again took the title of the fastest driver. His teammate was not far behind in 4th position, preceded only by Nick Heidfeld (BMW) and Nico Rosberg (Williams). Noteworthy is Sébastien Buemi’s excellent performance with the new Toro Rosso STR4.

The reigning world champion finishes 0.399 seconds behind the second, Heidfeld. Following them are Rosberg and Kovalainen, each with roughly a tenth of a second gap from the driver ahead.

The title contenders this year are almost nonexistent, especially at the start of the session. Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are only 9th and 10th with Red Bull. The Brawn drivers don’t do better with 13th and 17th places for Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button. The championship leader is therefore much slower than his teammate.

Hamilton has always been able to respond when a driver took his first place. He dislodged his teammate Kovalainen from the throne right at the start of the session, and then the Briton was able to reclaim the position twice after Sébastien Buemi and then Felipe Massa briefly took it.

Rosberg managed to get within a few hundredths of a second of the McLaren, but once again Hamilton was able to respond by extending his lead.

Buemi remained in contact with the race leaders by finishing fifth this morning. His teammate, novice in the field, Jaime Alguersuari, was very well placed in the middle of the session but ultimately dropped to 18th place.

Timo Glock missed the majority of the session after his Toyota suffered a hydraulic leak on his initial laps. He managed to return to the pits for repairs, which were completed in time for him to come back in the final minutes and secure sixth place.

Felipe Massa for Ferrari and the second Williams of Kazuki Nakajima virtually move into the points by being 7th and 8th.

Robert Kubica (BMW) and Jarno Trulli are 11th and 12th respectively. The Renaults of Nelson Piquet and Fernando Alonso are out of contention with only the 14th and 16th fastest times. Notably, the Brazilian is ahead of his Spanish teammate. They are separated by Kimi Räikkönen in the second Ferrari F60.

Force India brings up the rear and Adrian Sutil is responsible for the only accident of the morning. He went off into the gravel and ended up in the tires after a mistake at the entrance of turn 8. He finishes behind Giancarlo Fisichella.

Free Practice 3 Results – Hungarian GP – Saturday, July 25, 2009: