FP3: Rosberg storms ahead

Nico Rosberg struck a psychological blow in final practice for the German GP as he put 0.6s between himself and his team-mate.

As the drivers switched to the supersoft tyres in the final ten minutes at a boiling hot Hockenheimring, Rosberg crossed the line with a 1:17.779.

Lewis Hamilton, who put in his qualifying-style run a minute later, was down on his team-mate through all three sectors. He ultimately posted a time that was 0.601s slower than Rosberg’s.

As such it is the German who will hold the psychological advantage heading into this afternoon’s qualifying.

Fernando Alonso was third quickest for Ferrari ahead of the Williams of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas while Kevin Magnussen, despite fighting his MP4-29, finished sixth quickest.

Daniel Ricciardo was again the best placed Red Bull driver as he was seventh quickest with Sebastian Vettel ninth.

The two Red Bulls were separated by Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, though, did not have an easy morning.

Following on from his water pump problem on Friday, he pulled into the pits on Saturday with a fuel cell problem. That ultimately resulted in the team needing to change his fuel pump and Raikkonen missing the last 25 minutes of the hour-long session.

Meanwhile, several drivers struggled getting their cars through Turn 1 with all four tyres on the race-track. Within a space of 10 minutes midway through the session, there were more than nine offs including three for Vettel alone.

With the stewards taking note, the drivers will have to be more aware during qualifying as lap times could be disallowed for exceeding track limits.

Times
01 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.779 24 laps
02 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:18.380 +0.601 20 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:18.384 +0.605 11 laps
04 Felipe Massa Williams 1:18.575 +0.796 18 laps
05 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:18.611 +0.832 19 laps
06 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:18.756 +0.977 16 laps
07 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:18.769 +0.990 13 laps
08 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:18.842 +1.063 8 laps
09 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:18.890 +1.111 17 laps
10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:19.127 +1.348 19 laps
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:19.131 +1.352 19 laps
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:19.470 +1.691 20 laps
13 Jenson Button McLaren 1:19.489 +1.710 15 laps
14 Sergio Perez Force India 1:19.505 +1.726 21 laps
15 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:19.601 +1.822 23 laps
16 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:20.078 +2.299 23 laps
17 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:20.198 +2.419 21 laps
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:20.466 +2.687 19 laps
19 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:20.844 +3.065 6 laps
20 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:21.018 +3.239 21 laps
21 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:23.077 +5.298 14 laps
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:23.449 +5.670 7 laps

Related Links
Qualy Snaps From Hockenheim