2018 F1 Round 13 Belgian GP FP3 – Vettel fastest again as Ferrari take the top two

Sebastian Vettel topped Saturday morning’s third practice session with a 1:42.661, just 0.063 seconds ahead of Kimi Räikkönen as Ferrari took the top two places. Lewis Hamilton was third, 0.137 seconds off the pace, with Valtteri Bottas fourth. The four Ferrari and Mercedes cars formed a clear leading group.

Max Verstappen was fifth and Daniel Ricciardo sixth, with the two Red Bulls approximately 1.4 and 1.8 seconds behind the leader respectively. The final practice session before qualifying is usually used to confirm low-fuel, single-lap settings. Teams also need to consider wind direction through the fast corners and tyre temperatures when deciding their final downforce configuration.

The track remained dry, and the official classification recorded lap times for all 20 drivers. FP3 lasted only an hour, during which Vettel completed 13 laps and Hamilton ten. Lower lap totals than on Friday did not necessarily indicate a problem, as teams focused on final set-up work and qualifying simulations within the limited running time.

Sauber’s Charles Leclerc was seventh and Marcus Ericsson eleventh, keeping the team in the midfield fight. Sergio Pérez took eighth for Force India, with Esteban Ocon tenth. The team, returning under a new entity, showed pace ahead of qualifying, in which both drivers would later secure second-row grid positions.

The Renaults finished ninth and thirteenth. Nico Hülkenberg completed 17 laps in FP3 and Carlos Sainz 13. Both needed to balance straight-line efficiency against grip through the middle sector, while Sunday’s grid positions would also be affected by power-unit and gearbox penalties.

Romain Grosjean was twelfth for Haas and Kevin Magnussen fourteenth. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley placed fifteenth and sixteenth. Williams remained towards the back, with Lance Stroll seventeenth and Sergey Sirotkin eighteenth. On such a long lap, small losses in traction can accumulate into a substantial time deficit.

McLaren’s regular race drivers, Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, finished nineteenth and twentieth, both completing more than ten laps. Lando Norris’ FP1 appearance did not affect Alonso and Vandoorne’s participation in FP3. The team sought a workable balance at power-sensitive Spa, and the session went ahead without cancellation or postponement.

The official Formula 1 FP3 classification confirmed Vettel at the top, 0.063 seconds ahead of Räikkönen, with Hamilton third. Red Bull occupied fifth and sixth, and both Force India cars made the top ten. The full best lap times, gaps and lap totals for all 20 drivers are listed below. Practice times depend on tyres, fuel loads and track evolution, so they cannot be equated directly with qualifying or race pace. The definitive order remains the official Formula 1 timing classification.