31/10/2015
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's sole free practice session, the air temperature is 19 degrees C, whilst the track temperature is 27 degrees.
The sun is shining but there are dark clouds in the distance, heavy rain having been forecast for much of the last week. Following earlier showers the rain remains damp in places however, Race control says there is only a 10% chance of rain in the next hour..
A combination of rain and resins oozing from the brand new asphalt resulted in a very, very slippery track yesterday. Indeed, some drivers claimed that even in the dry it was driving on ice.
Consequently, not a single driver got through the two sessions without some sort of incident, some faring better than others. Whilst most got away with spins or even a cross country run, Verstappen brought out the red flags when the rear of his Toro Rosso snapped out and he clouted the barriers.
Due to the thinness of the air, top speeds on the straights are even higher than at Monza, and as a result a number of drivers have experienced brake issues, not least Nico Rosberg whose rear brakes caught fire. Valtteri Bottas had a very scary moment when he suffered a rear wing stall which saw the Finn spin and then spear into the barriers.
Whilst the layout of the track leaves much to be desired, especially among those of us who remember the old layout, the atmosphere is electric, the fans really getting into the spirit of things.
Mercedes, as ever, has the edge here, with Red Bull looking next best ahead of Ferrari and Williams.
Tyres available are medium (prime) and soft (option), and while the soft are clearly quicker some drivers complain they are going off after just a few laps. We should find out more over the next hour.
Stevens is first out but is quickly overtaken by the Ferrari duo. Ericsson, Sainz, Grosjean and Rossi are among the other early risers.
While most head back to the pits after an installation lap, Ericsson stays out and posts the first time of the day (29.929).
Ricciardo is warned that the shaded sections in the stadium section may have left damp patches.
Verstappen goes quickest (26.218), the Dutch youngster yet to run on the option tyres here having crashed early in FP2.
Having gone quickest (25.410), Massa goes quickest in S1, as the crowd erupts when Perez posts 25.360. moments later, Massa crosses the line at 25.265.
As Massa raises the bar with a 23.803, Perez has a hairy moment as he runs wrestles the car and wide in T7.
"There's a bump in T11 which is causing us issues," Alonso is told, "please try and avoid it."
Vettel goes quickest in S1, finally crossing the line at 24.337 to go third. Teammate Raikkonen posts 24.648 to go fifth.
Hulkenberg takes the top spot with a 23.506 as Kvyat posts 23.594 to go second.
Raikkonen pulls to the side of the track, smoke billowing from the rear of his car. "I had some issue with the engine," he reveals, "I lost the power."
Rosberg's first flying lap sees the German go 11th (26.138), as Kvyat posts 23.029 to go quickest. Teammate Hamilton is one of five drivers yet to post a time.
Rosberg improves with a 23.322 as Raikkonen arrives back in the pitlane... on foot.
"I'm struggling with warm up, low grip," says Vettel.
A massive lock-up for Stevens at T4.
Renault powered Kvyat raises the bar ever higher, the Russia crossing the line at 22.955.
Bottas goes second with a 23.194 as Verstappen complains of "oversteer everywhere, high speed, low speed".
"It's a little bit better than yesterday," says Bottas, "but still sliding a lot."
On his first flying lap of the day, Ricciardo posts 23.445 to go fifth, subsequently posting 22.909 to go quickest. Red Bull 1-2.
As Hamilton heads down the pitlane, the only driver yet to post a time, Alonso also heads out, the first driver to appear on the option rubber.
Hamilton posts 27.016 to go seventeenth as Masa goes quickest with a 22.729. Moments later Ricciardo re-takes the top spot with a 22.502.
Struggling to get grip into his tyres, Hamilton improves to eighth (23.549), while Verstappen, now on softs, goes third with a 22.866.
A purple in S2 and subsequent PBs, sees Hamilton go second, a mere 0.002s off Ricciardo's pace. Moments later, Vettel posts 21.871 but the German is on the option rubber.
On primes, Rosberg improves to eighth (22.964), the German losing time in S3 due to a spinning Red Bull.
Having gone quickest in the first two sectors, Vettel runs wide in T12, subsequently diving into the pits.
Verstappen locks-up and runs a little wide at T12, almost collecting Stevens as he rejoins the track.
"It's really hard to keep the tyres in the window," says Hamilton.
With 21:00 remaining, it's: Vettel, Verstappen, Rosberg, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Massa, Kvyat, Bottas, Alonso and Hulkenberg. However, of those, only Vettel, Verstappen and Alonso have run on the option rubber.
Still on the primes, Hamilton posts 21.840 to go quickest. Revealing that the rear is "still a bit loose", he asks for more laps in the car.
Button's day goes from bad to worse. Having only completed 4 laps, the team reveals that it is switching him back to his FP1 engine after he reported "worrying vibrations".
No such problems (thus far) for teammate Alonso who has the track to himself.
"The most impressive thing about FP3 so far is that Hamilton is quickest on the mediums," says Pirelli, "theoretically 1.5s slower than soft."
Ricciardo is back on track, now on the softer rubber, Kvyat and Rosberg also.
Ricciardo can only manage third (22.002) as Hamilton says he believes the softs will be better on the second lap.
As Sainz improves to sixth (22.313), Rosberg goes quickest in S1. Maintaining the pace in S2, the German finally crosses the line at 21.205, the quickest lap of the weekend thus far.
Kvyat splits the Mercedes with a 21.530, the Russian quickest in S2.
A 21.772 sees Bottas go third as Rosberg looks set to raise the bar even higher. Having gone quickest in the first two sectors, Rosberg loses time in S3. Hamilton then accuses the German of backing up into him, only to be told that there is "plenty of room behind". Replay shows the Briton also having a major lock-up.
Ricciardo goes second (21.201) and Vettel third (21.294), as Rosberg looks set to improve again.
Despite a scrappy lap, Hamilton improves to second, just 0.067s off his teammate's best.
A mistake sees Verstappen run wide at T12.
Having gone sixth (21.603), Perez acknowledges the crowd.
The session ends, with Rosberg quickest, ahead of Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vettel, Kvyat, Perez, Bottas, Sainz, Massa and Hulkenberg.
Verstappen is eleventh, ahead of Maldonado, Grosjean, Ericsson, Alonso, Nasr, Raikkonen, Stevens, Rossi and Button.
Check out our Saturday gallery, here