FP3: Vettel maintains the advantage in Sochi

Sebastian Vettel was once again the fastest during FP3 of the Russian GP. The pilot of the Team Ferrari improved the test benchmark time by completing a lap of the Sochi circuit in 1'34''001, a tenth better than its performance the day before. His teammate Kimi Räikkönen is the closest but the Finn is still more than 3 tenths behind.

The Mercedes remain behind even if Valtteri Bottas finished only a few thousandths behind his compatriot. The Nordic pilot maintains the advantage over Lewis Hamilton which clocks in at more than half a second.

Ranking 5th, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) marks the break in the peloton since he is more than a second behind the best time. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo took 8th place. The Australian encountered a mechanical problem forcing him to briefly stop on the track.

Nico Hulkenberg placed the first Renault RS 17 in 7th place behind Felipe Massa (Williams), but his teammate Jolyon Palmer continues to suffer with his mount. After a change of chassis during the night, the teamenstone had to change the engine during the test session. The Briton was only able to complete 4 laps.

Kevin Magnussen completed the top ten by trailing Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso), first driver more than 2s from the reference, but his teammate Romain Grosjean still seems to be struggling on the Haas VF17 while the American team changed the brakes during the night, replacing the Carbon Industrie with the Brembo.

Lance stroll (Williams) finished just outside the top ten ahead of Esteban Ocon (Force India) who preceded national driver Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso). The Russian finished in front Fernando Alonso (McLaren) and Sergio Pérez (Force India). Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) finished 17th ahead of the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein.

Qualifying for the Russian GP will be contested from 14 p.m. French time and will be followed live with our live text.