Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari upped the pace in Saturday's final free practice session, clocking in with a 1m04.070s record lap of the Red Bull Ring that beat Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton by 0.029s.
The German set his fastest time on a set of used ultrasoft tyres, as did Hamilton who edged out team mate Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen.
Austrian Grand Prix - Free Practice 3
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:04.070s | 22 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:04.099s | + 0.029s | 24 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:04.204s | + 0.134s | 24 |
| 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:04.470s | + 0.400s | 22 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:04.791s | + 0.721s | 14 |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:04.891s | + 0.821s | 18 |
| 7 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:04.916s | + 0.846s | 17 |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:05.013s | + 0.943s | 16 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1:05.086s | + 1.016s | 22 |
| 10 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber | 1:05.219s | + 1.149s | 25 |
| 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:05.228s | + 1.158s | 19 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:05.264s | + 1.194s | 25 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:05.444s | + 1.374s | 21 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:05.448s | + 1.378s | 18 |
| 15 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:05.502s | + 1.432s | 24 |
| 16 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:05.699s | + 1.629s | 27 |
| 17 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | 1:05.705s | + 1.635s | 23 |
| 18 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:05.837s | + 1.767s | 16 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:06.029s | + 1.959s | 23 |
| 20 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams | 1:06.318s | + 2.248s | 22 |
Drivers took to a dry track but one that remained shadowed by cloudy skies hovering above for the last free practice session before this afternoon's all-important qualifying run.
McLaren's Fernando Alonso was the first man out, but Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen laid down the first significant time, the Finn putting a 1m05.839s on the board on Pirelli's ultrasoft tyre.
Progressively, the track got busier with everyone lining up to test their latest tweaks and set-ups.
Ferrari appeared intent on reducing the gap with yesterday's unassailable Mercedes duo, with Sebastian Vettel taking over from Raikkonen at the top of the timesheet.
But the silver Arrows kept the red cars in check with Hamilton and then Bottas taking credit for the fastest lap, while Red Bull had yet to show its hand as both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo remained in the team's garage twenty minutes into the session.
Once the bulls were up and running however they quickly slotted themselves among the top six. Pressing on, Verstappen completed a fast first sector but then took a trip into the gravel at Turn 4.
Sauber's Charles Leclerc, a man very much in the news today following reports his Ferrari deal for 2019 is signed and sealed, looked impressive once again, consistently posting times worthy of a spot among the top ten.
Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly, lingering towards the bottom of the field, vented his frustrations over the radio towards Force India's Esteban Ocon, the Frenchman running slow on a line the Toro Rosso was speeding towards.
"This guy's a ****ing idiot, always the same story with him," colorfully quipped Gasly to his crew, confirming there is no love lost between the two Frenchmen.
Drivers' kerb troubles continued, with Brendon Hartley breaking his Toro Rosso's front wing and Stoffel Vandoorne also damaging his MCL33's front end while running wide at the final corner, just like he did yesterday.
As the session heated up, Raikkonen sprung once again to the top of the timesheet but Vettel immediately demoted his team mate to second, getting down to 1m04.159s.
But Hamilton and Bottas eventually split the red cars.
Ten minutes from the end of the session, Verstappen was seen pulling off and stopping on the grass, informing his team of a complete power shut down, a problem likely pointing to an electronic issue, and to worries for Red Bull!
Verstappen wasn't the only driver to pull off the track, with Sauber's Leclerc also coming to a standstill in the dying moments of the session with an apparent gearbox issue.
As the battle up front tightened up, the mid-field spread also closed up with just 0.3s separating Romain Grosjean in P7 from Marcus Ericsosn down in P15.
Has Ferrari closed the gap to the Silver Arrows or was Mercedes just fine-tuning it W09?
Check back in a few hours for what looks like a thrilling Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session.
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