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Vettel fastest in wet-to-dry final practice session

A well-timed last minute lap by Sebastian Vettel on slick tyres put the Ferrari driver at the top of the timesheet in Melbourne's final free practice session.

The wet-to-dry unpredictable conditions which prevailed Saturday morning enabled the German driver to enjoy an irrelevant cushion of 2.5s over Scuderia team mate Kimi Raikkonen and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson, with only the first three drivers achieving their times on Pirelli's ultrasoft slick rubber.

Australian Grand Prix - Free Practice 3

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:26.067s		15
2	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:28.499s	+ 2.432s	13
3	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:28.890s	+ 2.823s	14
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:31.680s	+ 5.613s	8
5	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:33.172s	+ 7.105s	11
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:34.043s	+ 7.976s	14
7	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:34.174s	+ 8.107s	14
8	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:34.225s	+ 8.158s	7
9	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:34.233s	+ 8.166s	15
10	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:34.298s	+ 8.231s	13
11	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:34.990s	+ 8.923s	16
12	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:35.438s	+ 9.371s	16
13	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:35.589s	+ 9.522s	16
14	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:35.828s	+ 9.761s	8
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:36.171s	+ 10.104s	6
16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	1:36.448s	+ 10.381s	12
17	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:36.807s	+ 10.740s	7
18	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:38.482s	+ 12.415s	8
19	Esteban Ocon	Force India			1
20	Sergio Pérez	Force India			1

From the outset, drivers ventured out onto the Albert Park track for their exploratory laps on wet tyres.

A few cars risked running on Pirelli's inters however, which proved the better choice in the early part of the session.

One man left stranded in his garage was Lance Stroll, the Canadian's Williams having fallen victim to gearbox issue which his crew eventually resolved towards the end of the session.

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg was the first driver to lay down a marker, achieving a 1m40.863s on the intermediate rubber before shaving a few seconds off and getting down to 1m38.482s.

Vettel names the car which follows the capricious 'Gina'

But unsurprisingly, rain master Max Verstappen and his impressive car control overhauled the German by 1.063s, but McLaren's Fernando Alonso was hot on his heels with the second fastest time.

The intermediate compound definitely led the way as track conditions slightly got better. As the field upped the pace, Mercedes shot to the top of the timesheet with Valtteri Bottas leading Lewis Hamilton with a 1m34.174s.

Behind, Stoffel Vandoorne pipped his McLaren team mate for third. While the track appeared to be gradually drying out, few felt it was worth trying the slick tyre.

In the final minutes however, a big effort by Verstappen pushed the Red Bull driver to the top, but a slick-shod Vettel put everyone behind by over five seconds, posting a 1m26.067 to lead the pack.

With eight seconds covering the top-ten drivers, the session offered little indication of what could be in store for this afternoon's qualifying showdown. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton remain the outright favourites for pole however.

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Michael Delaney