Practice 3: Webber tops as Red Bull emerge from engine map saga
28 July, 2012
Mark Webber was fastest in FP3
Jul.28 (Apex) Red Bull put behind them all the talk of engine torque maps and pedal torque maps, as Mark Webber ended the final free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend top of the timing screens with teammate Sebastian Vettel third quickest, the pair split by Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren.
There was little to separate the top trio, with Webber’s best time 1 minute 21.550 seconds a mere 0.093 seconds up on Hamilton and Vettel 0.121 seconds adrift of the top time.
For Red Bull it will have come as a mighty relief that the clampdown on the controversial torque mapping on the RB8 has, what appears to be, minimal impact on their drivers – at least on the twisty, slippery Hungaroring circuit – despite below par pace on the first day which led to speculation that they were to feel a major impact in the aftermath of the clampdown.
Hamilton on the other hand was best of all in FP1 and FP2, and in truth not far off the top pace in the session preceding qualifying. The McLaren driver looking sure to be a major factor on race day.
Enjoying one of his better weekends (at least in the practice sessions) is Bruno Senna who ended the session fourth fastest, while Williams teammate Pastor Maldonado was down in 11th.
Championship points leader Fernando Alonso was fifth quickest in the Ferrari, ahead of the Lotus pair Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean seventh and eighth respectively. Both the black and gold cars showing strong all around pace prompting predictions that this could well be their weekend…
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was eighth fastest, with Mercedes powered pair Paul di Resta (Force India) and Jenson Button (McLaren) ninth and tenth on the timing screens.
Incredibly the top 15 drivers were covered by a second – make that 1.047 seconds – implying an immense battle to get into Q3 and of course the all important top spot on the grid.
Hungarian Grand Prix, Free Practice 3 – Saturday, 28 July 2012
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:21.550 | 27 | |
| 2 | 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:21.643 | 0.093 | 17 |
| 3 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:21.671 | 0.121 | 29 |
| 4 | 19 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1:21.876 | 0.326 | 22 |
| 5 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:21.884 | 0.334 | 13 |
| 6 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:21.953 | 0.403 | 20 |
| 7 | 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:22.110 | 0.560 | 24 |
| 8 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:22.136 | 0.586 | 15 |
| 9 | 11 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:22.191 | 0.641 | 20 |
| 10 | 3 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:22.233 | 0.683 | 24 |
| 11 | 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:22.381 | 0.831 | 21 |
| 12 | 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:22.387 | 0.837 | 20 |
| 13 | 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:22.492 | 0.942 | 26 |
| 14 | 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:22.530 | 0.980 | 25 |
| 15 | 15 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:22.597 | 1.047 | 23 |
| 16 | 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:22.716 | 1.166 | 24 |
| 17 | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:22.868 | 1.318 | 30 |
| 18 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:22.931 | 1.381 | 30 |
| 19 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:24.036 | 2.486 | 20 |
| 20 | 21 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:24.547 | 2.997 | 18 |
| 21 | 25 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:25.224 | 3.674 | 22 |
| 22 | 24 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:25.497 | 3.947 | 21 |
| 23 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:26.785 | 5.235 | 20 |
| 24 | 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:26.898 | 5.348 | 26 |
Related posts:
- Practice 2: Hamilton owns day one before rain pours down
- Bahrain Practice 3: Rosberg tops with Red Bull duo best of the rest
- Bahrain Practice 1: Hamilton tops opening session
- Sepang Practice 1: Hamilton tops and keeps the momentum going
- Melbourne Practice 3: Hamilton tops as Vettel and Schumi beach it
