Lewis Hamilton just held the advantage heading into qualifying in a tightly contested final practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The session began with a 10-minute delay due to the clean-up of oil from a blown engine in the F2 race in the morning, but the ever-improving track conditions meant lap-times dropped considerably.
Initially, it was the power of the Ferrari in the first sector which gave them the edge over Mercedes and Red Bull.
But as the pace picked up, the Italian team’s lack of downforce allowed their rivals to close the gap and just move ahead.
It would be Hamilton who led the way with a new lap record around the Hungaroring of 1m16.084s, just 0.013s ahead of Max Verstappen.
Vettel’s main struggle was in the final sector even compared to his teammate, but he would slowly find the pace to finish third just 0.082s down for the Scuderia.
Valtteri Bottas had to back off his first flyer on his final set of soft tyres having run slightly wide in the still very dusty and dirty Turn 4.
His second attempt would leave the Finn almost three-tenths down in fourth which may well be a lifetime among the top three teams if conditions stay dry.
Charles Leclerc also didn’t improve late on, dropping from second to fifth as Pierre Gasly can’t quite join the fight, finishing 0.6s down in sixth.
Instead, the Frenchman will be under pressure from the midfield led by Lando Norris in seventh for McLaren.
The Briton had a full half-second advantage over Kimi Raikkonen, Carlos Sainz and the two Haas’, all of whom posted 1m17.2s from P8-P11.
The surprising strugglers are Toro Rosso and Renault, both of whom historically go well in Budapest.
Daniil Kvyat was only a tenth behind the leading group in 12th, but Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo were only 13th and 16th and potentially face a fight to make it out of Q1.
That depends on the pace of Racing Point, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alex Albon, who sit most at risk of joining Williams in the bottom five.
At the British team, however, George Russell sat 18th and on the pace of the lower midfield runners, perhaps hinting at a more competitive weekend.
Lance Stroll and Robert Kubica complete the order, with the Pole unable to thrill the thousands of his countryman who have descended on the Hungaroring.
Back at the front though and two factors will decide everything going into qualifying.
The weather, as rain remains a very real threat during the afternoon and whether Red Bull can keep pace with the Mercedes and Ferrari party modes that will come into play if it’s dry.
Full results from Practice 3 can be seen below:
