Free Practice 3: Williams drivers are the most opportunistic in the rain

Nico Rosberg was the fastest during a highly shortened practice session due to the elements that battered Sao Paulo. With only nine laps completed, he is the leader of this third testing session taking place as part of the Grand Prix on the very wet track of Interlagos.

The German sets his time at 1:23.182 and is ahead of his Williams teammate, Kazuki Nakajima. The world championship leader Jenson Button is third.

The 60-minute session was reduced to about 10 minutes after a strong tropical storm hit the track, covering it with water and mist. Consequently, the medical helicopter could not take off in these conditions.

Finally, the track opened with only 16 minutes remaining. It was Rosberg, followed by the McLaren drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton, who set the pace at the start. They would finish 12th and 17th respectively in this more than eventful session.

All the drivers joined them, but several instances of aquaplaning were observed, and various off-track excursions occurred, mainly at turn 5, with Fernando Alonso (4th) and Kimi Räikkönen (11th) being notable examples.

Romain Grosjean also went off at this spot without injury to himself. However, the accident was strong enough to cause a red flag with only 5 minutes remaining in the race. The finishing order is therefore as follows: Rosberg, Nakajima, Button, Alonso, Sutil, Grosjean, Buemi, Trulli, Heidfeld, and Webber, who makes it into the top 10.

Very heavy rain is forecasted for the qualifying session scheduled at 7 PM in France.

Free Practice 3 Results – Brazil GP – Saturday, October 17, 2009: