Alonso fastest again in final practice – FP3 Report

Fernando Alonso topped the time-sheets in the final practice session ahead of Daniel Ricciardo for the Singapore Grand Prix. Championship leader Nico Rosberg was third quickest as Mercedes struggled to get the most out of the super-soft tyres (a similar situation occurred in Montreal and Austria).

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel led the early pace before Nico Rosberg smashed their times by over a second. Lewis Hamilton struggled throughout final practice with balance issues as the Brit was only sixth fastest. Jean-Eric Vergne showed the pace of his Toro Rosso setting the fourth quickest time ahead of reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Williams struggled on Friday however showed improved speed today as Felipe Massa was seventh fastest albeit six tenths off the pace of the pace-setter Fernando Alonso. Kimi Räikkönen completed sixteen laps however was a mammoth one second behind his team-mate as he continues to struggle.

Final practice was littered with mistakes as Lewis Hamilton nearly hit the barriers at turn five after a half-spin. Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean ran wide at turns seven and sixteen respectively. Once again, the super-soft tyres were the tyres to be on as drivers improved their previous times by two-seconds making the first segment of qualifying even more intriguing and perhaps forcing the front-runners to burn a set of option tyres early on.

Like on any street circuit, qualifying is crucial. Practice has provided us with some surprises however could someone shock us all under the lights in two hours time and claim pole position?