Lotus driver Romain Grosjean has set the fastest time in a weather hit third and final practice session at Albert Park.
The Frenchman recorded his best effort of 1:26.93s early in the hour session before rain hit at the 15 minute mark.
Drivers enjoyed the shelter of their pit garages as heavy rain lashed the circuit, with 20 minutes passing before Felipe Massa cut the first of the wet laps.
Conditions improved sufficiently for intermediate tyres in the final 10 minutes, with Grosjean also the fastest of those to use the semi-wet rubber.
The Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were second and third respectively thanks to their early dry efforts ahead of Paul di Resta, Kimi Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne, Adrian Sutil, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez.
Sebastian Vettel was forced to sit out the final 10 minutes after electronic problems saw his team ask him to abandon the #1 Red Bull on the circuit.
Qualifying for the opening round of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship is set to commence at 1700 local time.
See below for the full Practice 3 result
|
Pos |
Driver |
Team |
Time/Retired |
Gap |
| 1 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:26.929 | |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:27.000 | 0.071 |
| 3 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.241 | 0.312 |
| 4 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:27.533 | 0.604 |
| 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:27.625 | 0.696 |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:27.849 | 0.920 |
| 7 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:27.860 | 0.931 |
| 8 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:28.069 | 1.140 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:28.253 | 1.324 |
| 10 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:28.253 | 1.324 |
| 11 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:28.486 | 1.557 |
| 12 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:29.808 | 2.879 |
| 13 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:30.073 | 3.144 |
| 14 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:30.388 | 3.459 |
| 15 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1:30.598 | 3.669 |
| 16 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1:30.959 | 4.030 |
| 17 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:33.236 | 6.307 |
| 18 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:33.527 | 6.598 |
| 19 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:39.232 | 12.303 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:39.779 | 12.850 |
| 21 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:42.872 | 15.943 |
| 22 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:47.246 | 20.317 |
