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Hungarian GP: Ferrari dominates FP3, Ricciardo hits trouble

Sebastian Vettel shattered the Hungaroring track record as he set a scintillating pace in final practice for Formula 1's Hungarian Grand Prix.

 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H

Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08
 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H
 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB13
 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1 W08
 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, Carlos Sainz Jr., Scuderia Toro Rosso STR12
 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1 W08
 Carlos Sainz Jr., Scuderia Toro Rosso STR12
 Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India F1 VJM10
 Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13
 Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team VF-17
 Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL32
 Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-17
 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08
 Lance Stroll, Williams FW40

Vettel clocked a 1m17.017s on the super-softs during his qualifying simulation to finish the session 0.475s quicker than Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

The lap was 1.464 seconds quicker than the previous track record, set by Rubens Barrichello in 2004.

Mercedes struggled for pace, with Valtteri Bottas Ferrari's closest challenger in third, 0.897s off the pace, and Lewis Hamilton half a second further back in fifth.

Mercedes focused on running the soft tyre in the first half of the session while the rest of the field chose the supersoft rubber.

Vettel set the early pace using that compound, clocking a 1m17.790s, 0.119s quicker than teammate Raikkonen.

Hamilton's best effort on the softs was 0.949s off the leading pace, with Bottas a further tenth back.

Attention then turned to qualifying preparation, with teams running low fuel and bolting on a fresh set of supersofts.

Vettel slashed seven tenths off his previous time on the softs to extend his advantage at the top of the standings.

When Mercedes tried the supersofts, they were unable to match that pace, with Hamilton struggling for grip and encountering a couple of off-track excursions.

Max Verstappen was the leading Red Bull driver in fourth, 1.177s off the pace, with teammate Daniel Ricciardo, a half-a-second further back in eighth.

But Ricciardo, who set the pace in Friday practice, failed to complete a qualifying simulation after stopping on track midway through the session.

Stoffel Vandoorne pumped in an impressive lap in the closing stages to vault up to sixth, 1.621s off the pace, two tenths quicker than McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso.

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg was seventh while teammate Jolyon Palmer, who had his first clean session of the weekend, completed the top 10.

Felipe Massa ended his session early after the Williams driver felt unwell again.

The Brazilian was taken to hospital in Budapest after Friday practice for precautionary checks but was given the all-clear to compete in FP3.

After 12 laps, he asked the team to stop with his fitness set to be evaluated ahead of qualifying.

If he is not able to take part, the likely replacement will be Williams reserve driver Paul di Resta, who last competed in F1 with Force India in 2013.

ClaDriverChassisEngineLapsTimeGap
1 germany Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari Ferrari 17 1'17.017  
2 finland Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari Ferrari 16 1'17.492 0.475
3 finland Valtteri Bottas  Mercedes Mercedes 15 1'17.914 0.897
4 netherlands Max Verstappen  Red Bull TAG 25 1'18.194 1.177
5 united_kingdom Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes Mercedes 14 1'18.434 1.417
6 belgium Stoffel Vandoorne  McLaren Honda 18 1'18.638 1.621
7 germany Nico Hulkenberg  Renault Renault 20 1'18.699 1.682
8 australia Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull TAG 7 1'18.714 1.697
9 spain Fernando Alonso  McLaren Honda 14 1'18.884 1.867
10 united_kingdom Jolyon Palmer  Renault Renault 19 1'18.956 1.939
11 spain Carlos Sainz Jr.  Toro Rosso Renault 22 1'19.300 2.283
12 france Esteban Ocon  Force India Mercedes 22 1'19.352 2.335
13 russia Daniil Kvyat  Toro Rosso Renault 23 1'19.455 2.438
14 mexico Sergio Perez  Force India Mercedes 22 1'19.609 2.592
15 france Romain Grosjean  Haas Ferrari 21 1'19.622 2.605
16 denmark Kevin Magnussen  Haas Ferrari 19 1'19.895 2.878
17 brazil Felipe Massa  Williams Mercedes 12 1'20.255 3.238
18 canada Lance Stroll  Williams Mercedes 24 1'20.379 3.362
19 germany Pascal Wehrlein  Sauber Ferrari 24 1'20.446 3.429
20 sweden Marcus Ericsson  Sauber Ferrari 19 1'20.748 3.731

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