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Sebastian Vettel topped the final practice session at Albert Park, setting a lap on the ultra soft tyre right at the end of the session. The German's time of 1:26.067 was good enough for P1, with his teammate Raikkonen sitting behind him in second.
The track was fairly wet when the green flag was waved, however it dried progressively as the clocked ticked down. In the final minutes of the session, a number of drivers bolted on a set of slick tyres to set a time in preparation for qualifying.
Marcus Ericsson was third for Sauber, heading Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Daniel Ricciardo was sixth, with the Australian's day being overshadowed by the penalty he will have to serve after qualifying. On Friday evening, the FIA confirmed that the five-time Grand Prix winner would drop three places on tomorrow's grid.
The Mercedes duo followed next, with Valtteri Bottas leading Lewis Hamilton. Behind the two Silver Arrows was the McLaren pair, as Stoffel Vandoorne's best time put him just in front of his teammate Fernando Alonso, who rounded out the top ten.
The two-by-two's followed outside of the top ten, with Toro Rosso holding the positions of eleventh and twelfth. Pierre Gasly's best time but him ahead of Brendon Harltey, who in turn, was in front of the Williams couple of Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll.
Haas will be looking forward to understanding its true pace and potential in qualifying later today, but the final practice session wasn't very representative for them, as Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen ended up fifteenth and seventeenth respectively.
Sandwiched between the two American cars was Charles Leclerc. Nico Hulkenberg was the last of the drivers to set a lap time, as both Force India of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon failed to lay down a timed lap throughout the session.
Fergal Walsh
Albert Park - 24 March 2018
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Posts: 1,804
Kind of a washy session. Can't wait for quali!