EL3 at Interlagos: Vettel shows up before qualifying

After Red Bull et Mercedes, it's the turn of the Team to dominate a free session at Interlagos. With a time of 1’07”948, Sebastian Vettel ahead of the Mercedes Lewis Hamilton of a pair of tenths. The five-time world champion suffered a technical scare when an exhaust pipe came loose on his Flèche d’Argent. The Briton had to wait in the pits for a while while his team put the element back in place.

Author of pole position last year and best time in EL2 on Friday afternoon, Valtteri Bottas finished third, three tenths ahead of his Finnish compatriot Kimi Räikkönen in the second SF71H. 

Max Verstappen, who dominated the first session of the Brazilian weekend, is in 5th place ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who will have to move back five places on the grid on Sunday for a turbo change. Haas confirms its good dispositions by placing its two single-seaters in 7th and 8th places, Kevin Magnussen before Romain Grosjean. 

After swapping the Honda engine specification II for the latest version this Saturday, Pierre Gasly jumped to 9th place for Toro Rosso. The Frenchman precedes the Sauber Charles Leclerc. 

Victim of an impressive off-track exit in EL2, Nico Hulkenberg finishes at the gates of the Top 10 on the highest ranked Renault, wheras'Esteban Ocon is 12th aboard the best Force India. 

The bottom of the ranking is occupied by McLaren de Fernando Alonso, who won his two world championship titles in Brazil, and Stoffel Vandoorne, who almost hit a bird during one of his runs. 

While the fight for the Constructors' Championship remains open between Mercedes and Ferrari, who will take an initial advantage at the end of qualifying? Start of response from 15:00 p.m., local time (18:00 p.m. in France), with our live commentary on CARhebdo.fr.

FP3 CLASSIFICATION: Vettel has the edge heading into qualifying #BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/FzjlbYjWfA

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