Mercedes AMG Petronas
Lewis Hamilton continued his domination of the United States Grand Prix weekend as he set the fastest time in the third practice session at the Circuit of the Americas.
Hamilton’s time of 1:37.107 was eight-tenths of a second faster than Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who suffered from a glazed brake earlier in the session. Hamilton also had a few minor issues as he spun under braking for Turn 12 towards the end of his run on Prime tyres.
Williams endured a promising hour as Felipe Massa was third fastest, albeit a second behind Hamilton, with Valtteri Bottas close behind in fourth.
Fernando Alonso suffered a couple of lurid moments on his first hot lap but recovered to post the fifth best time, ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Force India runner Nico Hülkenberg.
Adrian Sutil enjoyed one of his most competitive outings of the year as he went eighth for Sauber, while Kimi Räikkönen and Jenson Button rounded out the top 10.
Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel was 18th quickest after opting against a low-fuel run as he will start Sunday’s race from the pit lane due to a Power Unit change.
| Position | Number | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:37.107 | 13 | |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:37.990 | 0.883 | 15 |
| 3 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:38.214 | 1.107 | 19 |
| 4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:38.437 | 1.330 | 20 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:38.727 | 1.620 | 13 |
| 6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:38.927 | 1.820 | 16 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:38.960 | 1.853 | 20 |
| 8 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:39.000 | 1.893 | 22 |
| 9 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:39.143 | 2.036 | 17 |
| 10 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:39.241 | 2.134 | 22 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:39.335 | 2.228 | 19 |
| 12 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1:39.448 | 2.341 | 18 |
| 13 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:39.561 | 2.454 | 21 |
| 14 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:39.582 | 2.475 | 21 |
| 15 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | STR-Renault | 1:39.688 | 2.581 | 19 |
| 16 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:40.208 | 3.101 | 22 |
| 17 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Renault | 1:41.443 | 4.336 | 12 |
| 18 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:43.765 | 6.658 | 25 |
