Lewis Hamilton ended the third and final test before qualifying in Melbourne quickest with a lap of 1:25.681, some two seconds slower than 2011’s pole time.
The McLaren driver put in his lap in the final few minutes of the session to pip Lotus’s Romain Grosjean by just seven hundredths.
Home favourite Mark Webber completed the top three fastest runners, whilst his teammate Sebastian Vettel could only manage seventh after a spin into the gravel trap.
Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button was fourth quickest ahead of the Mercedes duo.
Behind them, the grid looks super close with just one second covering from P8 to P17, but whether that translates through to qualifying is yet to be seen.
A 107% cut-off of 1:31s is expected and therefore the HRT cars may struggle to qualify for Sundays race.
2012 Australian GP FP3 Results:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:25.681 | 18 | |
| 02. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:25.758 | +0.077 | 21 |
| 03. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:25.900 | +0.219 | 20 |
| 04. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:25.906 | +0.225 | 17 |
| 05. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:25.929 | +0.248 | 23 |
| 06. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:26.078 | +0.397 | 14 |
| 07. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:26.211 | +0.530 | 12 |
| 08. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:26.470 | +0.789 | 17 |
| 09. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:26.632 | +0.951 | 20 |
| 10. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:26.723 | +1.042 | 17 |
| 11. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:26.733 | +1.052 | 15 |
| 12. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:26.737 | +1.056 | 19 |
| 13. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:26.755 | +1.074 | 21 |
| 14. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:27.029 | +1.348 | 23 |
| 15. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:27.119 | +1.438 | 20 |
| 16. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:27.323 | +1.642 | 19 |
| 17. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:27.428 | +1.747 | 22 |
| 18. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:28.023 | +2.342 | 19 |
| 19. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:28.341 | +2.660 | 19 |
| 20. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:28.702 | +3.021 | 11 |
| 21. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:30.728 | +5.047 | 13 |
| 22. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:31.225 | +5.544 | 14 |
| 23. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:33.114 | +7.433 | 12 |
| 24. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:33.261 | +7.580 | 13 |
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