F1 British GP, Free Practice 3: Vettel ahead of Alonso

Sebastian Vettel is first in the third and final free practice session of the British F1 GP but at Silverstone Ferrari is there with Fernando Alonso second and only 63 thousandths behind the German Red Bull. Third time for Mark Webber, more than 4 tenths behind, and fourth for Felipe Massa, fourth at 7 tenths. The news of the day, however, is the FIA rethinking the exemption granted yesterday to Renault engines and therefore to Red Bull.

After protests from McLaren and other teams, the French engineer will have to adapt to 10% use of exhaust gases against the 50% requested from the FIA ​​and obtained previously.

Michael Schumacher took the lead in the early stages with 1.36.228. For him even a spin without consequences. After the dry start, a light rain then arrived after the first 15 minutes which did not prevent Webber, shortly afterwards, from taking the lead with 1.34.699 ahead of Kobayashi.

Halfway through the session Massa moved up to fourth place behind Schumacher and ahead of Button.

The light drizzle stopped in the second half of the session. Rosberg, on soft tyres, took the lead ahead of Alguersuari with 1.34.544 and immediately afterwards lapped in 1.33.044 while the Ferrari drivers evaluated the hard tires and Perez moved into second position ahead of Alonso and the Forces India by Di Resta and Sutil.

The Spaniard was the author of a good long run on hard tires which saw him move up to second position behind Rosberg. The Ferrari driver then took the lead with 1.32.843 ahead of Kobayashi who however was on soft tires on his Sauber.

With 10 minutes to go the top teams also put on soft tyres. Alonso improved his time further by lapping in 1.31.464, overtaking Maldonado who had momentarily taken the lead. After long interventions by his mechanics on the rear of his car, Webber returned to the track in the last five minutes, moving into second position. With 3 minutes to go Vettel took the lead by lapping in 1.31.404, overtaking Alonso by just 63 thousandths.

In the final, Massa, after experiencing traffic problems, managed to get into fourth place ahead of Maldonado, Button, Kobayashi and Rosberg. Perez is ninth with Sauber ahead of Di Resta's Force India.

Of note is the start of a fire on Rosberg's Mercedes after the German's first installation lap. Mercedes mechanics also worked on the bottom of Schumacher's car who finished 11th fastest. Only 13th Lewis Hamilton with the other McLaren.

F1 British GP, Silverstone, times and results of free practice 3

Pos Driver Team Time Lap Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m31.401s 17 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m31.464s + 0.063s 20 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m31.829s + 0.428s 12 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m32.169s + 0.768s 20 5. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m32.496s + 1.095s 20 6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m32.956s + 1.555s 18 7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.014s + 1.613s 20 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m33.044s + 1.643s 23 9. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.264s + 1.863s 21 10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m33.423s + 2.022s 22 11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m33.551s + 2.150s 11 12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m33.660s + 2.259s 22 13. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.842s + 2.441s 16 14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m33.905s + 2.504s 21 15. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m34.042s + 2.641s 22 16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m34.329s + 2.928s 20 17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m34.799s + 3.398s 20 18. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m34.822s + 3.421 s 21 19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m35.225s + 3.824s 21 20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m36.905s + 5.504s 21 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m37.614s + 6.213s 18 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin- Cosworth 1m38.068s + 6.667s 20 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m38.289s + 6.888s 19 24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m38.568s + 7.167s 17