After complaining about struggling with tyres on Friday, Ferrari bounced back on Saturday and were looking very much on form in the morning's final free practice session at Spa-Francorchamps as Kimi Raikkonen led the way with a best lap time of 1:47.974s.

The Finn was just over two tenths quicker than Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, while Sebastian Vettel took third place ahead of the Williams of Valtteri Bottas who was fourth fastest.

It was another low-key session for Mercedes. Nico Rosberg had gone to the top early in the session on soft compound tyres, but his time was soon bettered by both Ferraris and by Ricciardo.

Rosberg's team mate Lewis Hamilton spent most the morning working on long-distance runs on medium and used soft tyres. Regardless of what happens in this afternoon's qualifying session, the Briton will start from the back of the grid tomorrow after incurring a large number of engine change penalties.

However, Hamilton was able to put in one late flying lap just before the time ran out on the 60-minute session and claimed fifth place on the timing screens just ahead of the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, leaving Rosberg pushed down to seventh ahead of Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez and Romain Grosjean.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso finished just outside the top ten having completed just nine laps during the session. Haas' Esteban Gutierrez was 12th ahead of Jenson Button, Kevin Magnussen, Pascal Wehrlein, Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz, with Jolyon Palmer in 18th ahead of Felipe Nasr.

In his first FP3 session, Manor's new driver Esteban Ocon was 20th fastest although he was 2.7s behind Raikkonen's practice-topping time.

After topping Friday's afternoon practice there was less good fortune for local hero Max Verstappen on Saturday, as he he suffered a gearbox issue after completing only two laps and virtually all of the session, putting him on the back foot going into qualifying.

There were also problems for Sauber's Marcus Ericsson, who reported a loss of power and spent most of the session back in the garage before returning at the end of practice to finally set a time, albeit down in 21st place.

A number of drivers including Vettel, Hamilton, Perez and Ricciardo all received warnings for cutting the corner at Eau Rouge and the exit of Radillon.

An incident between Vettel and Renault's Kevin Magussen at Blanchimont will also be looked at by the stewards over the lunchtime break, as will a close encounter at Eau Rouge between Haas' Esteban Gutierrez and Manor's Pascal Wehrlein.

AS IT HAPPENED: Belgian Grand Prix - FP3

Silbermann says ... Spa too hot

Romain Grosjean column: More motivated than ever

Chris Medland's 2016 Belgian Grand Prix preview

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
01 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:47.974 11
02 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:48.189 18
03 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:48.297 12
04 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:48.504 17
05 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:48.635 20
06 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:48.739 12
07 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:48.742 19
08 Felipe Massa Williams 1:48.783 21
09 Sergio Perez Force India 1:48.915 12
10 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:49.272 16
11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:49.453 9
12 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:49.631 16
13 Jenson Button McLaren 1:49.665 10
14 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:49.716 11
15 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:49.761 15
16 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:50.023 9
17 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:50.078 9
18 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:50.241 11
19 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:50.420 13
20 Esteban Ocon Manor 1:50.693 18
21 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:51.319 5
22 Max Verstappen Red Bull 2
Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Happy 'Bert Day' to F1i founder Bertrand Gachot

Today, we at F1i.com raise a celebratory glass to our esteemed founder, Bertrand Gachot, who…

17 mins ago

McLaren’s 2024 Season: A triumph 26 years in the making

McLaren roared back to the pinnacle of Formula 1 in 2024, clinching their first Constructors'…

32 mins ago

Lawson opens up about online abuse following Red Bull promotion

Liam Lawson has revealed that he became the target of online abuse by fans of…

2 hours ago

Norris and Leclerc agree: Sainz 'deserves to fight at the front'

As Carlos Sainz prepares for a new chapter in his Formula 1 career with Williams,…

4 hours ago

Sebastian Montoya steps up to Formula 2 with Prema

Sebastian Montoya, the 19-year-old son of former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya, is set…

19 hours ago

Sauber finds its ‘Northern Star’ under Binotto’s leadership

When former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto took on the role of Chief Operating Officer…

20 hours ago