» Rosberg sets the pace in final practice

Current championship leader Nico Rosberg has finished the final practice session a large six-tenths ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Although not quite as hot as FP2, the track temperature rose from 42 to 48 degrees over the hour-long session, with thermometers expected to climb further come qualifying.

Fernando Alonso was third fastest for Ferrari completing less than half the laps of Rosberg. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who had an excellent second practice session, hit trouble 30 minutes into FP3 as a suspected fuel pump issue cut his running short.

He returned briefly to the track for another couple of laps but was forced to sit the rest of the session out as the problem persisted. He only managed to complete eight laps while finishing the session eighth.

McLaren’s ambition for an improved package continued this weekend as the team used their ‘joker’ which allows them to change their gear ratio setup.

Each team is allowed one ‘joker’ for 2014 as the gear ratios are selected for the entire season prior to the first race in Melbourne.

The session for McLaren didn’t go as smoothly as they’d have liked, as Jenson Button complained of understeer and lack of traction through some of the corners.

Williams are looking strong once again, with Felipe Massa finishing in fourth whilst his team-mate Valtteri Bottas was right behind in fifth.

2014 German Formula 1 Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 Results:

	Driver	Team / Entry	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W05	1:17.779		24
2.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W05	1:18.380	+ 0.601	20
3.	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari F14T	1:18.384	+ 0.605	11
4.	Felipe Massa	Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW36	1:18.575	+ 0.796	18
5.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW36	1:18.611	+ 0.832	19
6.	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren Mercedes MP4-29	1:18.756	+ 0.977	16
7.	Daniel Ricciardo	Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB10	1:18.769	+ 0.990	13
8.	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari F14T	1:18.842	+ 1.063	8
9.	Sebastian Vettel	Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB10	1:18.890	+ 1.111	17
10.	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India Mercedes Mercedes VJM07	1:19.127	+ 1.348	19
11.	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR9	1:19.131	+ 1.352	19
12.	Jean-Éric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR9	1:19.470	+ 1.691	20
13.	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes MP4-29	1:19.489	+ 1.710	15
14.	Sergio Pérez	Force India Mercedes Mercedes VJM07	1:19.505	+ 1.726	21
15.	Esteban Gutiérrez	Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C33	1:19.601	+ 1.822	23
16.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Team Renault E22	1:20.078	+ 2.299	23
17.	Jules Bianchi	Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03	1:20.198	+ 2.419	21
18.	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1 Team Renault E22	1:20.466	+ 2.687	19
19.	Adrian Sutil	Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C33	1:20.844	+ 3.065	6
20.	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham F1 Team Renault CT05	1:21.018	+ 3.239	21
21.	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham F1 Team Renault CT05	1:23.077	+ 5.298	14
22.	Max Chilton	Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03	1:23.449	+ 5.670	7