Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel edged Mercedes rival Valtteri Bottas during the final practice session for Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Vettel opened a sizeable advantage through the early runs on Ultrasoft tyres, his time of 1:16.343 leaving him half a second clear of Bottas.
Bottas responded with a sequence of quicker laps before he pulled clear on a 1:16.229, only for Vettel to hit back by clocking a 1:16.170.
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX: FP3 results
Vettel’s time was not beaten across the remainder of the session as he wound up with a new track record in hot conditions at the Hungaroring.
Bottas placed second and avoided major damage when he spun through the chicane, making side-on impact with the barriers at low-speed.
Kimi Raikkonen remained a threat in third place, 0.203s down, with his best lap compromised by a slight wide moment at the chicane.
World Champion Lewis Hamilton was a low-key fourth, over half a second down, as he had a scruffy session, running wide several times, including a near-identical spin to Bottas at the chicane, though he avoided contact with the barriers.
Red Bull slipped to fifth and sixth, with Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Max Verstappen, six- and seven-tenths adrift of Vettel respectively.
Renault turned the tables on Haas by moving to the front of the midfield pecking order, as Carlos Sainz Jr. finished a comfortable three-tenths clear of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.
Romain Grosjean classified just a thousandth of a second down on Hulkenberg in ninth, while Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10, in front of Kevin Magnussen and Brendon Hartley.
Charles Leclerc placed 13th, in front of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, who was Force India’s lead driver a day after the team entered administration.
Sergey Sirotkin provided Williams with some encouragement by taking 16th, with Stoffel Vandoorne, Marcus Ericsson, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll at the rear of the 20-strong field.
Qualifying will begin at 15:00 local time
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