Sebastian Vettel tops the timesheets in FP3 at the Red Bull Ring as Rosberg crashes

In the final practice session in Austria this morning, Sebastian Vettel set the pace ahead of his team mate Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton in session which saw Rosberg suffering a suspected left rear suspension failure and crashing into the barriers at Turn 2.

During FP3, Romain Grosjean runs wide into Turn 2 after struggling to hold the rear of his Haas car. But he was able to continue on with the session without hurting the tyres or the car. We also see Lewis Hamilton especially struggling with his Pirelli tyres as the track temperatures rise at the Speilberg circuit.

With twenty minutes left into the session, Nico Rosberg spins off the circuit just after Turn 2, with a suspected left rear suspension failure. Rosberg then hit the barrier and damaged his front wing off his Mercedes. This then brought out the red flag as the marshals see if Rosberg is okay and that they can remove the car off the track safely. But Rosberg got safely out the car and many are left wondering if the car will be fixed in time for qualifying

In the last five minutes of the session, Valtteri Bottas spun his Williams after taking too much speed into the final corner and losing the rear end. Bottas was able to get back onto the track and continue on during the session

But it was Sebastian Vettel who was fastest with a lap time of 1:07.098 ahead of his team mate Kimi Raikkonen in second place who was 0.136 seconds behind him and ahead of Lewis Hamilton in third place who was 0.210 seconds behind Vettel.

Daniel Ricciardo finished the session in fourth place ahead of Max Verstappen in fifth place, Valtteri Bottas in sixth place, Felipe Massa in seventh place, Nico Hulkenberg in eighth place, Jenson Button in ninth place and Fernando Alonso who rounded off the top ten finishers.

Sergio Perez ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Esteban Gutierrez in twelfth place, Pascal Wehrlein in thirteenth place, Romain Grosjean in fourteenth place and Kevin Magnussen in fifteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Daniil Kvyat ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Jolyon Palmer in seventeenth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in eighteenth place, Rio Haryanto in nineteenth place, Marcus Ericsson in twentieth place, Felipe Nasr in twenty-first place and Nico Rosberg in twenty-second place.

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

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.07.098
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.136s
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 0.210s
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.541s
5. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.663s
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 0.716s
7. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 0.733s
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 1.187s
9. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 1.206s
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 1.229s
11. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1.344s
12. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas Ferrari, 1.377s
13. Pascal Wehrlein, MRT Racing, 1.436s
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 1.452s
15. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1.471s
16. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1.688s
17. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1.841s
18. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.910s
19. Rio Haryanto, MRT Racing, 2.018s
20. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 2.039s
21. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 2.459s
22. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 3.861s

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa