Posted on 30th April 2017
In the final practice session at the Sochi Autodrome circuit on Saturday, Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas in a session that saw the drivers perfecting their set ups and seeing where they need to improve before qualifying.
During FP3, Jolyon Palmer was the only driver who failed to set a time with his Renault team deciding to change his engine ahead of qualifying.
That came after its mechanics worked well into the night to complete a precautionary chassis change for the Briton after an exhaust leak on Friday.
But it was Sebastian Vettel who was fastest with a lap time of 1:34.004 ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in second place who was 0.337 seconds behind him and ahead of Valtteri Bottas in third place who was 0.363 seconds behind Vettel.
Lewis Hamilton finished the session in fourth place ahead of Max Verstappen in fifth place, Felipe Massa in sixth place, Nico Hulkenberg in seventh place, Daniel Ricciardo in eighth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in ninth place and Kevin Magnussen who rounded off the top ten finishers.
Lance Stroll ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Esteban Ocon in twelfth place, Danill Kvyat in thirteenth place, Fernando Alonso in fourteenth place and Sergio Perez in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Romain Grosjean ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne in seventeenth place, Marcus Ericsson in eighteenth place, Pascal Wehrlein in nineteenth place and Jolyon Palmer in twentieth place.
The classification of FP3 for the Russian GP is as follows:-
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.34.001
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.337s
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 0.363s
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 0.541s
5. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.151s
6. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1.470s
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1.661s
8. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.829s
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 2.163s
10. Kevin Magnussen, Haas Ferrari, 2.555s
11. Lance Stroll, Williams-Mercedes, 2.648s
12. Esteban Ocon, Force India-Mercedes, 2.675s
13. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 2.845s
14. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 2.868s
15. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 2.961s
16. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 3.163s
17. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren-Honda, 3.181s
18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 3.502s
19. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber-Ferrari, 3.656s
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, No Time Set
Driving for Pleasure will be covering the Russian GP weekend with our qualifying and race reports alongside the latest news.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
