Vettel tops FP3 as Ferrari takes charge

F1 Grand Prix, GP Hungary, Hungaroring

Sebastian Vettel demonstrated a blistering pace in the final practice session at Hungary, breaking the lap record with a time of 1:17.017. HIs team mate, Kimi Raikkonen ended up being the closest challenger, albeit nearly half a second down.

Valtteri Bottas was the quickest Mercedes in third place, and the only other man to stay within a second of Vettel. Verstappen and Hamilton meanwhile were up next in 4th and 5th, with Verstappen notably very busy compared to his rivals. His Friday struggles are likely to be an explanation for this.

Hamilton on the other hand was the last of the top guns to switch to super soft tyres, but he failed to get a complete lap together that was competitive enough to challenge the Ferraris. One may expect though that Mercedes will be closer when qualifying comes around in less than 2 hours.

Friday's pace setter, Daniel Ricciardo stranded after just 7 laps with an apparent electrical issue. He therefore didn't get further than an 8th fastest time.

That put him in the middle of a pack with Renault and McLaren Honda cars, of which Stoffel Vandoorne was fastest in 6th position, 1.621s down on Vettel. This order maintains Friday's ranking, and appears to show that McLaren and Renault have a firm chance to get both their cars in the top 10 on Sunday.

Just out of the top 10, it's Toro Rosso and Force India who appear to be quickest, followed by the Haas cars.

Williams continued to struggle, and to compound issues saw Massa step out of his car after just 12 laps, a result of feeling ill. The Brazilian will be replaced by the team's reserve driver Paul Di Resta for the remainder of the weekend.