Rosberg completes hat-trick clean sweep, but Hamilton and Mercedes rivals close down Friday advantage; Hamilton under investigation for unsafe pit release
Monday 1 August 2016 15:40, UK
Nico Rosberg stayed ahead of Lewis Hamilton in final practice for the German GP, but Mercedes' advantage over Red Bull and Ferrari shrunk to a tenth of a second.
Mercedes and Hamilton were also placed under investigation by stewards for an alleged unsafe release when his car exited his garage into the path of Romain Grosjean's oncoming Haas.
Stewards can impose a grid penalty on the driver if the team, who are responsible for releasing their car in a safe manner, are deemed to have broken the regulations.
On the track, Hamilton closed down his 0.3-second Friday deficit to Rosberg to just 0.057s heading into qualifying, while Mercedes' rivals wiped out most of their half-second deficit to the Silver Arrows.
Daniel Ricciardo moved Red Bull back ahead of Ferrari to take third place, just 0.099s behind Rosberg, with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel fourth and fifth for the Scuderia respectively.
Both Williams cars made the top 10 to take over as 'best of the rest' behind the top three teams from McLaren, who were ninth with Fernando Alonso.
But Jenson Button endured a torrid session with balance and grip problems in his McLaren and wound up 19th.
However, the situation was worse for Grosjean. The Frenchman is facing a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change after a problem-filled final practice which included him spinning into the grass.
Practice Three timesheet
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:15.738
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:15.795
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:15.837
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:15.902
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:16.104
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:16.182
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:16.400
8. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:16.630
9. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:16.916
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:16.972
11. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:17.028
12. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:17.066
13. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:17.160
14. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:17.227
15. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:17.351
16. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:17.473
17. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:17.685
18. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:18.057
19. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:18.093
20. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:18.270
21. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:18.272
22. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:25.160
