Korean GP – Free Practice 3: Button ahead of Hamilton and Webber

It is a dry track heated to 28°C and a cloudy sky that welcome the drivers for this third free practice session. All the drivers take advantage of this situation to head out as soon as the green light signals the start of the session: some return to the pits after their installation lap while others stay on track, like the Red Bull drivers. Vettel is actually the first to set a benchmark time of 1.43.575, which is significantly beaten by Webber and then Rosberg, while on the Ferrari side, they are starting this Free Practice session with an aerodynamic test with the front wing coated with the famous greenish liquid allowing engineers to observe the flow.

On his second attempt, on soft tires with yellow sidewalls, Michael Schumacher takes the best time with 1:40.471, a time that is successively improved by the two Red Bull drivers until Sebastian Vettel brings it down to 1:39.799.

From his first flying lap, Lewis Hamilton is in 2nd place, just 31 thousandths behind the Red Bull driver, while Bruno Senna breaks his wing after spinning and grazing the wall. On his second attempt, Lewis Hamilton tops the timesheet with a 1:38.210 lap. His teammate slots into second place while Nico Rosberg is the first to go out on super-soft tires, securing the 3rd fastest time.

After a little more than 20 minutes of practice, Hamilton leads Massa, Button, Schumacher, Alonso, Rosberg, Vettel, Petrov, Webber, and Kobayashi, while Daniel Ricciardo is the only driver not to have completed a timed lap, as his car stopped at the pit lane entrance and appears to be suffering from a significant fluid leak.

If the action decreases in intensity, the Red Bull drivers are visibly working for the race by staying on track for a long stint. The McLaren drivers are currently leading the session, with Hamilton and Button ahead of their closest rivals, the Ferraris, by more than half a second. The leading drivers are still on hard tires, which does not prevent them from improving their lap times on an increasingly abrasive track. Lewis Hamilton is the first to go under the minute 38 with a time of 1:37.595, while Mark Webber completes a 12-lap stint.

As the final quarter of the test approaches, the McLaren drivers are ahead of their Ferrari counterparts, followed by Schumacher, Sutil, Rosberg, Vettel, Petrov, Di Resta, Alguersuari, Buemi, Webber, Senna, Perez, Kobayashi, Barrichello, Maldonado, Kovalainen, Trulli, Glock, Liuzzi, and d’Ambrosio. The leading drivers should take advantage of the last minutes to test the ultra-soft tires brought by Pirelli this weekend. Michael Schumacher’s engineer reassures his driver about the durability of the softest tires, which still seemed to be in good condition after 10 laps on Nico Rosberg’s car.

Jenson Button is the first of the top drivers to launch a timed attack on super soft tires, only getting close to the best time of Lewis Hamilton, who improves his own time by 0.4 seconds. On his first lap, Mark Webber slots into 3rd position while his teammate is hindered by a Toro Rosso while he was on track to set the fastest time.

But the McLaren drivers also seem untouchable on super-soft tires while Alguersuari once again hinders Sebastian Vettel, provoking the ire of the German driver. With the traffic, this end of the session also takes on the appearance of a race, with Hamilton also having to battle with Michael Schumacher.

At the checkered flag, Jenson Button grabs the best time, at 1:39.910, right under the nose of his teammate, who went straight at the braking point of the straight. The McLaren drivers leave their closest rivals more than 0.8 seconds behind, while Sebastian Vettel has not been able to show his potential, hindered by Jaime Alguersuari on each of his attempts.

Find the entire editorial team of Motorsinside.com to follow the qualifying session live, starting from 6:45 am.

**Free Practice 3 Classification of the Korean Grand Prix /f1/actualite/11668-suivez-les-qualifications-du-gp-de-coree-en-direct.html:**