---
title: "Vettel fastest by over a second on third day of final test"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2018/03/08/vettel-fastest-second-third-day-final-test/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Kyran Gibbons"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2018-03-08T17:25:14Z"
modified: "2018-03-08T17:30:17Z"
---

# Vettel fastest by over a second on third day of final test

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheet by over a second on the third day of the second Formula 1 pre-season test, as all 10 teams exceeded 100 laps.

Posting a 1m17.182s on the hypersoft tyre, Vettel smashed the unofficial track record set by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo during Wednesday’s running.

The lap followed two ultrasoft runs by Ferrari, with Vettel clocking 1m17.913s initially, before reducing the time by 0.3s on the second run. It was suspected that on both these attempts, Vettel lifted the throttle before crossing the line.

Focusing on race simulation work in the afternoon, Ferrari clocked 188 laps, with each and every team clearing a century of laps for the first time ever during a single day of pre-season testing.

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas once again split driving duties at Mercedes. Both focused on long-run performance and spent nearly the entire day running the medium compound tyre. Mercedes subsequently finished an anonymous eighth and ninth, but unlike Ferrari, the team is still yet to show its hand and run the hypersoft tyre.

Haas had a promising day with Kevin Magnussen finishing second on the timesheet. He was 1.188s adrift of Vettel’s benchmark but had used the supersoft tyres – two steps harder than the hypersoft – to post his 1m18.360s.

Pierre Gasly continued Toro Rosso’s trend of high mileage, clocking 169 laps en route to third on the timesheet. Unlike the majority of teams, Toro Rosso completed its qualifying simulation runs on the hypersoft tyres towards the end of the day.

That meant Toro Rosso vaulted above the Renault pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr within the final 30 minutes of the session. Renault subsequently finished fourth and fifth.

McLaren ended the day sixth, with Stoffel Vandoorne at the wheel for the duration. It was the last of the 10 teams to clear the 100 lap barrier, but Vandoorne eventually completed 148 laps in a relatively trouble-free day.

Despite a trip to the gravel trap at Turn 4 to trigger the only red flag of the day with just 90 minutes left on the clock, Marcus Ericsson completed 146 laps for Sauber on his way to seventh on the timesheet.

Robert Kubica recorded Williams’ best time of winter testing in 10th, while Lance Stroll – who completed the morning stint for the team – finished at the foot of the timesheet.

Sergio Perez completed 173 laps for Force India, finishing 11th and slowest of the drivers to set their fastest time on the hypersoft tyre.

After its timesheet topping efforts on Wednesday, Red Bull ran an understated programme on Thursday with Max Verstappen finishing 12th with a 1m19.842s on the soft tyre. Verstappen managed 187 laps – just one lap less than Ferrari.

Teams will embark on the fourth and final day of the second test on Friday – their final opportunity to run the 2018 cars before the season-opener in Melbourne.