Romain Grosjean was fastest for Lotus on Saturday morning as the predicted rain hit Melbourne to cause a few problems for the teams.
The Frenchman’s 1:26.929 just before the rain began to fall was good enough to ensure he stayed top for the entire session.
Ferrari duo Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were second and third quickest ahead of Paul di Resta.
Kimi Raikkonen rounded off the top five.
As the heavens opened, on-track action stopped for several minutes before Massa braved the conditions. Vettel too joined him but stopped with a problem having completed just nine laps.
FP3 Times – 2013 Australian Grand Prix:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:26.929 | 14 | |
| 02. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:27.000 | +0.071 | 7 |
| 03. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.241 | +0.213 | 10 |
| 04 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:27.533 | +0.604 | 9 |
| 05. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:27.625 | +0.696 | 12 |
| 06. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:27.849 | +0.920 | 19 |
| 07. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:27.860 | +0.931 | 16 |
| 08. | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:28.069 | +1.140 | 15 |
| 09. | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1:28.253 | +1.324 | 18 |
| 10. | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:28.253 | +1.324 | 20 |
| 11. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:28.486 | +1.557 | 13 |
| 12. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:29.808 | +2.879 | 9 |
| 13. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:30.073 | +3.144 | 16 |
| 14. | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:30.388 | +3.459 | 17 |
| 15. | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 1:30.598 | +3.669 | 20 |
| 16. | C. Pic | Caterham | 1:30.959 | +4.030 | 19 |
| 17. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:33.236 | +6.307 | 7 |
| 18. | S. Perez | McLaren | 1:33.527 | +6.598 | 8 |
| 19. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:39.232 | +12.303 | 13 |
| 20. | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:39.779 | +12.850 | 13 |
| 21. | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:42.872 | +15.943 | 13 |
| 22. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:47.246 | +20.317 | 9 |
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