Lewis Hamilton bounces back to be quickest in FP3 in Belgium

In FP3 in Belgium this morning, Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel.

After FP2 yesterday, it was announced that Max Verstappen is likely to get a ten place grid penalty for changing his engine and gearbox and also before the start of the session this morning it was announced that Romain Grosjean is likely to get a five place grid penalty for changing his engine after it failed at the end of FP2 yesterday.

It has also been announced this morning that the FIA has removed a new kerb added at Eau Rouge ahead of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

With cars able to cut part of the left hander at Radillon – at the top of the climb out of Eau Rouge – a larger kerb was installed at the apex to deter drivers. However, concerns were raised at the driver's briefing last night due to the corner being blind as cars climb sharply uphill.

Following a number of incidents in GP2 and GP3 yesterday which saw cars becoming momentarily airborne having hit the kerb, the FIA has now announced the kerb has been removed ahead of Saturday's running.

Having made the change, the FIA will now police whether drivers cut any part of the corner in order to gain an advantage.

In a statement to the teams, Race Director Charlie Whiting stated the following about the kerb being removed as follows:-

'Following the driver's meeting yesterday – the orange kerb on the apex of Turn 4 has been removed.

'Further to the discussion in the meeting, and as a result of the change to the kerb in Turn 4, a report will only be made to the stewards if a driver has exceeded the track limits (principally but not limited to the areas behind the kerbs in turns 4 and 15) and is suspected of gaining an advantage from doing so.'

Also before the session, Pirelli have announced that an external source contributed to the tyre blow out that Nico Rosberg sustained in FP2 yesterday. Pirelli are still investigating the incident and have taken the tyre back to Italy for more tests.

During the session, we saw Kimi Raikkonen going off the track but he managed to keep the car under control and was able to continue on during the session. Sadly, things are not looking good for Fernando Alonso and McLaren-Honda. Alonso’s engine didn’t sound good as he prepared to go out onto the track and the team were looking into the issues as quickly as possible.

We also saw Romain Grosjean go off at the Bus Stop Chicane and managed to correct the rear of the car spinning. Grosjean was able to get the car back on track and continued on during the session.

But it was Lewis Hamilton who topped the timesheets with a lap time of 1.48.984 ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg in second place who was 0.498 seconds behind him but was ahead of Sebastian Vettel who finished in third place who was 0.645 seconds behind the Mercedes of Hamilton.

Kimi Raikkonen finished the session in fourth place ahead of Sergio Perez in fifth place, Daniel Ricciardo in sixth place ahead of his team mate Daniil Kvyat in seventh place. Nico Hulkenberg ended the session in eighth place ahead of Valtteri Botats in ninth place and Felipe Massa who rounds off the top ten finishers.

Carlos Sainz Jr ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Pastor Maldonado in twelfth place, Max Verstappen in thirteenth place, Felipe Nasr in fourteenth place and Marcus Ericsson in fifteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Romain Grosjean finished the session in sixteenth place ahead of Jenson Button in seventeenth place, Will Stevens in eighteenth place and Roberto Merhi in nineteenth place. Fernando Alonso did not set a time in the session.

The classification of FP3 for the Belgian GP is as follows:-

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.48.984
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 0.498s
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.645s
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.880s
5. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 0.882s
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 0.946s
7. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Renault, 0.996s
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 1.016s
9. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 1.195s
10. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1.463s
11. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, 1.104s
12. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.568s
13. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, 1.601s
14. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1.615s
15. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.706s
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 2.070s
17. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 2.997s
18. Will Stevens, Manor, 5.278s
19. Roberto Merhi, Manor, 5.297s
20. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, No Time
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa