Vettel lap record puts Ferrari clear of Mercedes ahead of qualifying, but Red Bull struggling as Verstappen stops
Monday 10 December 2018 12:58, UK
Ferrari and Mercedes are poised for an almighty battle for pole at the Austrian GP on Saturday after Sebastian Vettel narrowly edged out Lewis Hamilton in Practice Three.
Just 0.029s separated the two championship challengers in final practice as, for the first time since Mercedes introduced their new engine last weekend in France, the world champions were headed on a timesheet with Vettel clocking a new absolute record of 1:04.070.
Hamilton had topped both of Friday's sessions as Ferrari kept their usual low-profile but the Englishman can take encouragement in P3 from being so close to Vettel despite what appeared to be a less-than-perfect lap on his final set of ultrasoft tyres.
Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas was just 0.134s back in third place, with Kimi Raikkonen fourth in the second Ferrari.
The circuit may be called the Red Bull Ring, but the 'home' team appear destined for the grid's third row at best with the Renault-powered RB14 lapping 0.7s off the pace on a circuit that rewards engine performance.
To make matters worse, Max Verstappen, the quicker of the team's two drivers on Saturday morning in fifth, did not complete the session after a suspected electrical problem struck his car in the final 10 minutes.
"The engine just suddenly turned off. No power steering, nothing," said Verstappen on the radio to the team as he pulled off the circuit in front of a crowd which contains an estimated 20,000 Dutch fans.
Such were Red Bull's relative struggles that they finished only a tenth ahead of the impressive Haas cars, with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen evenly-matched in seventh and eighth places.
Sauber, Ferrari's other customer team, again showed the progress they are making with Charles Leclerc in 10th but the rookie driver has his own concerns heading into qualifying after his car also stopped on track in the closing stages.
Initial suggestions were that a gearbox glitch had struck the C37 and were the unit to be replaced for qualifying, Leclerc would pick up a five-place grid penalty.
On the second-shortest circuit of the year, a matter of tenths separated the Renault, Force India, Sauber and McLaren cars between ninth and 15th with the final Q3 positions therefore likely to be determined by clean laps and a lack of mistakes as much as car performance.
McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne and Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley both sustained damage to their respective cars after running over the circuit's viscous 'sausage' kerbs.
