GP Brazil 2016 (Training 3): Rosberg at the top

D he temperature drop came as predicted. On Friday afternoon, the sun had heated the asphalt strip to over 50 degrees. On Saturday morning, a thick band of cloud hung over the Autodromo José Carlos Pace. The air temperature was only 19 degrees, the asphalt cooled down to 26 degrees. In addition, it was drizzling slightly.

Rosberg ahead in tricky conditions

Nevertheless, Mercedes remained the measure of all things. However, in a different order of precedence. While the first two training sessions went to Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in the third session. The World Cup leader, who won his first title early in Brazil, rounded the 15 corners in 1: 11.740 minutes on soft tires. No one was faster this weekend.

Team-mate Hamilton didn't use Fernando Alonso's slipstream on the long uphill stretch to the home straight to beat his rival. It was exactly 93 thousandths missing after 4.309 kilometers. Will Hamilton be thrown off the rails by the training defeat? The qualification in the afternoon will tell. In any case, the best time should have increased Rosberg's self-confidence.

Ferrari moved up. Yesterday both red racing cars were slower than Williams and Red Bull. In the third practice session they presented themselves as the second force behind Mercedes. And that despite the dramatically different weather conditions. Changing conditions so far this season have been poison for the SF16-H. This time it seems to be different, and Ferrari adjusted the setup correctly. Sebastian Vettel lost just 0.219 seconds to the best time - a significant increase compared to Friday, when the four-time world champion was not yet satisfied with the performance of his Ferrari on a fast lap. Kimi Räikkönen followed Vettel in fourth position with 68 thousandths.

Red Bull behind Ferrari

Red Bull took fifth and sixth place. In the order Max Verstappen before Daniel Ricciardo. The gap to Ferrari was small, at least at Verstappen. His garage neighbor, in turn, fell away a little. Williams could not save the result of the second training in Saturday. Nevertheless, both white and blue cars stayed in the top ten. Valtteri Bottas finished seventh, 0.874 seconds behind the leaders. Felipe Massa took ninth place.

Jolyon was surprisingly strongPalmer. The Renault driver, who will drive alongside Nico Hülkenberg for the French in 2017, grabbed eighth place. Like team mate Sergio Perez, Hülkenberg ended up outside the top 10, which Fernando Alonso pushed into. Despite minor gearbox problems at the beginning of the session.

Marcus Ericsson was also in trouble. Sauber has to change the engine in the Swede's C35 before qualifying. After a round of installation, a problem with the Ferrari V6 was noticed. Pascal Wehrlein made progress in terms of setup and beat his stable rival Esteban Ocon.