Sebastian Vettel surprises everyone by being the fastest in FP3 in Melbourne

In the final practice session at the Albert Park circuit today, Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in a session that saw the drivers perfecting their set ups and seeing where they need to improve before Qualifying.

Just before FP3, it was announced by the Sauber team that Pascal Wehrlein has withdrawn from the Grand Prix due to concerns regarding a back injury he sustained at the Race of Champions in January. He will now be replaced by the team's third driver Antonio Giovinazzi for the rest of the weekend.

The main talking point in FP3 Lance Stroll crash sparked the first red flag of the day when he hit the wall at the exit of Turn 10. Stroll had just started an ultra-soft run with 10 minutes to go when he side-swiped the wall and rolled to a stop half way down to Turn 11. The stoppage was long enough for the session not to be restarted again.

But it was Sebastian Vettel who was fastest with a lap time of 1:23.380. Vettel has broken the unofficial Albert Park lap record; showing just how much F1 in 2017 has become faster than many thought. Vettel finished ahead of Valtteri Bottas in second place who was 0.479 seconds behind him and ahead of Lewis Hamilton in third place who was 0.490 seconds behind Vettel.

Kimi Raikkonen finished the session in fourth place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in fifth place, Daniel Ricciardo in sixth place, Romain Grosjean in seventh place, Carlos Sainz Jr in eighth place, Daniil Kvyat in ninth place and Kevin Magnussen who rounded off the top ten finishers.

Felipe Massa ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Max Verstappen in twelfth place, Sergio Perez in thirteenth place, Fernando Alonso in fourteenth place and Stoffel Vandoorne in fifteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Esteban Ocon ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Lance Stroll in seventeenth place, Marcus Ericsson in eighteenth place, Jolyon Palmer in nineteenth place and Antonio Giovinazzi in twentieth place.

The classification of FP3 for the Australian GP is as follows:–

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.23.380s
2. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 0.479s
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 0.490s
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.608s
5. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1.683s
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.712s
7. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 2.201s
8. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 2.568s
9. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 2.669s
10. Kevin Magnussen, Haas Ferrari, 2.758s
11. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 2.711s
12. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 2.889s
13. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 3.077s
14. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 3.176s
15. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren-Honda, 3.319s
16. Esteban Ocon, Force India-Mercedes, 3.723s
17. Lance Stroll, Williams-Mercedes, 2.947s
18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 4.022s
19. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 4.940s
20. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber-Ferrari, 5.203s

Driving for Pleasure will be covering the Australian GP weekend with our practice, qualifying and race reports alongside the latest news.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa