Singapore GP P3: Vettel quickest as Ferrari & Red Bull lead Mercedes
Paddy Lowe insists Mercedes have a "big concern" for qualifying after being outpaced by rivals again; McLaren finish seventh with Alonso; Live qualifying action begins on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm
Tuesday 22 September 2015 09:20, UK
Sebastian Vettel set a storming pace to top final practice as Ferrari and Red Bull again led Mercedes to suggest there could be a shock on the cards at the Singapore GP.
On the fifth anniversary of Ferrari's last dry-weather pole position, which came around the Marina Bay circuit, Vettel uncorked an eye-catching lap of 1:45.682 to top the charts from team-mate Kimi Raikkonen by over four tenths of a second.
Not only were Mercedes outpaced by Ferrari, but they also finished behind Renault-powered Red Bull with Friday pacesetter Daniil Kvyat close behind Raikkonen in third, two tenths ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Mercedes therefore found themselves in unusual fifth and sixth positions, although their large pace deficit to the front - 1.1 seconds - inevitably led to immediate suggestions that the runaway world championship leaders were hiding their true pace ahead of qualifying.
Such theories were strengthened by the fact that McLaren-Honda's Fernando Alonso lapped just a tenth slower than the second Mercedes of Nico Rosberg to take seventh, despite the Woking team having trailed among F1's backmarkers for most of the season.
However, speaking to Sky Sports F1 immediately after the session, Mercedes technical chief Paddy Lowe insisted that the world champions weren't sandbagging.
"We're running normally. It's a big concern for us, which we've got to go and deal with," Lowe said.
Although Mercedes are yet to reveal what their specific problems are, it appears tyres are likely to be at the centre of their issues, on a circuit where Pirelli's two softest compounds are in use.
Both Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes themselves have the chance to equal F1's all-time consecutive pole records for driver and team, currently held by Ayrton Senna and Williams respectively, on Saturday evening in Singapore, but the evidence of the final two practice session suggests both streaks appear under serious threat.
Despite the Red Bull teams' divorces from Renault being imminent, Toro Rosso also continued to run strongly with Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen, who spun early in the session, eighth and ninth respectively.
Marcus Ericsson in the Ferrari-powered Sauber rounded out the top 10, meaning the works Mercedes' were the only cars in the top half of the timesheet with the German manufacturer's engine - the power pack which has dominated F1 since the start of 2014.
Williams, again struggling for pace on grip on a low-speed circuit, could do no better than 11th with Valtteri Bottas while Lotus again found themselves down among the backmarkers.
At the very back, meanwhile, Manor new boy Alexander Rossi finished ahead of team-mate Will Stevens.
Times:
1. S Vettel, Ferrari, 1:45.682
2. K Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:46.132
3. D Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:46.167
4. D Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:46.359
5. L Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:46.802
6. N Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:47.223
7. F Alonso, McLaren, 1:47.237
8. C Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:47.301
9. M Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:47.464
10. M Ericsson, Sauber, 1:47.568
11. V Bottas, Williams, 1:47.587
12. N Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:47.640
13. J Button, McLaren, 1:47.715
14. F Massa, Williams, 1:47.733
15. P Maldonado, Lotus, 1:47.817
16. S Perez, Force India, 1:48.002
17. R Grosjean, Lotus, 1:48.116
18. F Nasr, Sauber, 1:48.932
19. A Rossi, Manor, 1:52.588
20. W Stevens, Manor, 1:55.293
