Romain Grosjean placed his Lotus at the top of the times on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying to cement Lotus’s belief that they can challenge Red Bull’s pace.
The Frenchman just pipped Fernando Alonso to the top spot by over a tenth – with both drivers bettering last years pole position lap set by Lewis Hamilton.
Sergio Perez surprised with McLaren’s pace and popped up in third position, six places ahead of team-mate Jenson Button on ninth. However, the Mexican heavily damaged his car after losing the rear and hitting the barriers.
FP1 and FP2 leader Sebastian Vettel settled for fourth whilst the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa rounded off the top five.
Qualifying looks like it could be closely fought with the top 12 cars within a second of the leading pace.
FP3 Times – 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:20.730 | 20 | |
| 02 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:20.898 | +0.168 | 13 |
| 03 | S. Perez | McLaren | 1:21.052 | +0.322 | 10 |
| 04 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:21.125 | +0.395 | 27 |
| 05 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:21.151 | +0.421 | 14 |
| 06 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:21.158 | +0.428 | 19 |
| 07 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:21.254 | +0.524 | 17 |
| 08 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:21.356 | +0.626 | 23 |
| 09 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:21.499 | +0.769 | 15 |
| 10 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:21.519 | +0.789 | 20 |
| 11 | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:21.589 | +0.859 | 17 |
| 12 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:21.646 | +0.916 | 19 |
| 13 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:21.963 | +1.233 | 21 |
| 14 | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1:22.964 | +1.234 | 21 |
| 15 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:22.180 | +1.450 | 18 |
| 16 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:22.423 | +2.693 | 19 |
| 17 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:23.028 | +2.298 | 16 |
| 18 | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 1:23.975 | +3.245 | 21 |
| 19 | C. Pic | Caterham | 1:23.987 | +3.257 | 19 |
| 20 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:24.298 | +3.568 | 20 |
| 21 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:25.122 | +4.392 | 20 |
| 22 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 2 |
