Nico Rosberg still quickest in FP3 at Singapore

In the final practice session in Singapore, Nico Rosberg set the pace ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen as the teams and drivers prepare for qualifying for just two hours time.

Ten minutes into the session, Pascal Wehrlein hit the barrier after spinning the car and lost his rear wing of his Manor car. This then brought out the red flag as Wehrlein limped back home into the pits for his team to repair his car. Halfway through the session, Lewis Hamilton spun after going into too deep into Turn 7. Hamilton was able to get back onto the circuit and able to continue running in the session.

The issue that Hamilton faced at Turn 7 earlier in the session resurfaced in the final 15 minutes of the session when he went off the track again and flat spotted his tyres. But he was able to run in the remainder of the session.

He then returned to the pits, where the cover was taken off his engine, something Mercedes later confirmed was to investigate “a hydraulic alert while on the circuit”. The team decided the issue could not be resolved in the final 15 minutes and he did not return to the circuit.

This then means that the world champion missed out on the long runs at the end of the session — a significant blow in Singapore as FP2 is the only practice session which is considered relevant to the rest of the weekend as the full session takes place under floodlights.

In the dying minutes of the session, Fernando Alonso pulled up at Turn 16 at the end of the session with what he reported to be “a gearbox issue”, which could have ramifications for the Spaniard later in the weekend.

But it was Nico Rosberg who was fastest with a lap time of 1:44.352 ahead of Max Verstappen in second place who was 0.059 seconds behind him and ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in third place who was 0.508 seconds behind Rosberg.

Daniel Ricciardo finished the session in fourth place ahead of Sebastian Vettel in fifth place, Nico Hulkenberg in sixth place, Daniil Kvyat in seventh place, Lewis Hamilton in eighth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in ninth place and Valtteri Bottas who rounded off the top ten finishers.

Sergio Perez ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Fernando Alonso in twelfth place, Esteban Gutierrez in thirteenth place, Felipe Massa in fourteenth place and Kevin Magnussen in fifteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Jenson Button ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Felipe Nasr in seventeenth place, Romain Grosjean in eighteenth place, Marcus Ericsson in nineteenth place, Jolyon Palmer in twentieth place, Pascal Wehrelin in twenty-first place and Esteban Ocon in twenty second place.

The classification of FP3 for the Singapore GP is as follows:-

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1.44.352
2. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.059s
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.508
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.551s
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.752s
6. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 0.964
7. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1.151s
8. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.454s
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.527s
10. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 1.595s
11. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1.760s
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 1.812s
13. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas Ferrari, 1.964s
14. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 2.177s
15. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 2.764s
16. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 2.925s
17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 2.941s
18. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 3.059s
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 3.604s
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 4.337s
21. Pascal Wehrlein, MRT Racing, 4.849s
22. Esteban Ocon, MRT Racing, 5.213s

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa