» 2012 Korean GP: Vettel set for pole after dominating final practice

Barring disaster for him or a miraculous performance from someone else, it seems almost certain that Sebastian Vettel will secure his fifth pole position of the season, having soundly thrashed the rest of the field in the final free practice session for the Korean Grand Prix.

The German was fastest on both tyre compounds in today’s one-hour session, with a switch to a qualifying-style run on Pirelli’s super-soft tyres giving him top place on the timesheets to the tune of over half a second to the next quickest driver, Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button ended the session third-quickest, while the Lotus entries of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top five as both got to grips with the team’s new coandă-style exhausts.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso finished the session sixth-fastest – two spots ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa – but it will be worrying to the Maranello camp that the Spaniard was a full second off Vettel’s leading pace.

The Ferrari duo sandwiched Mark Webber on the timesheets, with the Australian unable to improve his position in the final ten minutes’ running after he was sidelined with a technical gremlin that required the attention of the team’s mechanics, along with representatives of the outfit’s engine supplier, Renault.

Vettel’s outstanding pace aside, the afternoon’s individual qualifying phases look set to be a fascinating affair in the midfield, which saw just over a second covering positions five to eighteen.

Interestingly, both Mercedes runners were further down the order than they would have liked, with Nico Rosberg twelfth-fastest, one spot better than team-mate Michael Schumacher.

As usual, the Caterham, Marussia and HRT entrants made it a Noah’s Ark formation at the bottom of the timing screens, but all three outfits saw their less-experienced drivers trump their more established partners in the battle for intra-team bragging rights at the end of the session.

2012 Korean Formula 1 Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 Session Times:

	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:37.642		17
2.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:38.169	+ 0.527	12
3.	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:38.511	+ 0.869	13
4.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:38.582	+ 0.940	16
5.	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:38.666	+ 1.024	18
6.	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:38.705	+ 1.063	12
7.	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:38.766	+ 1.124	7
8.	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:38.791	+ 1.149	13
9.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault FW34	1:38.833	+ 1.191	16
10.	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:38.932	+ 1.290	17
11.	Sergio Pérez	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:38.954	+ 1.312	17
12.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:39.010	+ 1.368	20
13.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:39.150	+ 1.508	18
14.	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:39.156	+ 1.514	18
15.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:39.345	+ 1.703	14
16.	Jean-Éric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:39.448	+ 1.806	17
17.	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:39.537	+ 1.895	18
18.	Bruno Senna	Williams Renault FW34	1:39.706	+ 2.064	18
19.	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham Renault CT01	1:41.114	+ 3.472	14
20.	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham Renault CT01	1:41.437	+ 3.795	19
21.	Charles Pic	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:41.684	+ 4.042	16
22.	Timo Glock	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:42.845	+ 4.420	15
23.	Narain Karthikeyan	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:42.062	+ 5.203	15
24.	Pedro de la Rosa	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:42.882	+ 5.240	14