Suzuka, FP3: Rosberg on top in final practice in Japan

Nico Rosberg made it three sessions from three as he added top spot in final practice for the Japanese Grand Prix to the fastest times he set in both Friday sessions.

The championship leader finished FP3 three tenths of a second clear of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo as Lewis Hamilton ended the session in seventh place after failing to get in a clean lap in the final stages on a crowded track.

Rain overnight and in the morning left the Suzuka circuit greasy and low on grip and the first half of the early afternoon session was a low-key affair. After a flurry of installation laps taken on a mix of intermediate and wet tyres, the first half of the session saw little action.

Eventually Rosberg and Hamilton emerged to turn some laps on the medium tyres with Rosberg holding sway on the white-banded Pirelli compound. Rosberg’s best medium tyre time was a 1:33.230, just five hundredths of a second ahead of Hamilton. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third on medium tyres, 0.360 behind Rosberg, while Ricciardo was fourth at this stage, also on medium tyres.

Just shy of three-quarters of the way through the session Williams’ Valtteri Bottas became the first driver to make a move to soft tyres and he immediately claimed P7. Haas’ Estaban Gutierrez then took P6 and that performance sparked a rush to get out on track.

As a result it was difficult for driver to find the space to get in a clean run. Rosberg, the first of the likely front runners to take to track on softs, managed it and he lowered the P1 benchmark to 1:32.092. Hamilton, though, had a slow second sector on his second attempt at a flying lap and he returned to the garage without getting in a clean quali sim.

Ricciardo, meanwhile, managed to find clear air and he claimed second place in the session with a time of 1:32.394, 0.302 behind Rosberg.

Sebastian Vettel was third, despite the Ferrari driver also being forced to abandoning his first flyer when he got stuck behind a Renault as he wound up for the lap.

Fourth place went to Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull, though he too was vocal in complaining about the traffic he encountered. Fifth-placed Kimi Raikkonen, the last man to get within a second of Rosberg, also had his lap hampered by a slower Renault.

Felipe Massa took sixth place for Williams ahead of Hamilton, while a good session for Renault saw Jolyon Palmer take eighth place ahead Kevin Magnussen in ninth. Nico Hulkenberg was tenth for Force India.