» 2013 German GP: Vettel fastest once again

Sebastian Vettel has made his intentions perfectly clear to rivals Mercedes, by putting in a blistering 1:29.517 to top final practice at the Nurburgring.

Vettel was later than most in switching to the softer compound tyres but showed his Friday practice speed wasn’t a one off, by going just two tenths slower to his best lap time. He is the only driver this weekend to break into the 1:29’s.

Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber finished second and third respectively and were impressive throughout the session, but were bested by six-tenths from Vettel’s lap.

The Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa have improved on yesterday’s performance and placed themselves in the top five with two one-hundredths of a second separating the pair.

It wasn’t a good day for Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes, however, as he was struggling with the balance of his F1W04. Rather than challenge his teammate and Vettel for top honours, Hamilton found himself spending long periods in the garage as mechanics tried to correct the oversteer problems he was complaining about.

It was a similar story at the other end of the field for the battle of tenth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Caterham’s Charles Pic led the way in 19th, followed closely by Jules Bianchi in the Marussia, who was two tenths behind. Pic’s teammate Giedo van der Garde. The Dutchman finished ahead of an off-the-pace Max Chilton in the second Marussia.

Given the sheer pace the two teams have demonstrated, qualifying looks set to be a shootout between the Red Bulls and the Mercedes, with the stage certainly set for an intriguing race tomorrow.

2013 German Formula 1 Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 Session Times:

	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault RB9	1:29.517		19
2.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W04	1:30.193	+ 0.676	19
3.	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault RB9	1:30.211	+ 0.694	18
4.	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari F138	1:30.621	+ 1.104	16
5.	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari F138	1:30.639	+ 1.122	17
6.	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1 Renault E21	1:30.671	+ 1.154	19
7.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W04	1:30.744	+ 1.227	20
8.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Renault E21	1:30.781	+ 1.264	18
9.	Nico Hülkenberg	Sauber Ferrari C32	1:30.966	+ 1.449	20
10.	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes VJM06	1:31.009	+ 1.492	18
11.	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes MP4-28	1:31.326	+ 1.809	22
12.	Esteban Gutiérrez	Sauber Ferrari C32	1:31.405	+ 1.888	20
13.	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes VJM06	1:31.733	+ 2.216	21
14.	Jean-Éric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR8	1:31.855	+ 2.338	18
15.	Sergio Pérez	McLaren Mercedes MP4-28	1:31.855	+ 2.338	23
16.	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR8	1:31.898	+ 2.381	19
17.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault FW35	1:31.969	+ 2.452	20
18.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault FW35	1:32.036	+ 2.519	23
19.	Charles Pic	Caterham Renault CT03	1:33.230	+ 3.713	19
20.	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Cosworth MR02	1:33.470	+ 3.953	22
21.	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault CT03	1:33.964	+ 4.447	21
22.	Max Chilton	Marussia Cosworth MR02	1:34.683	+ 5.166	20