Ferrari dominate with Vettel-led FP3 one-two! - FP3 summary & results

Sebastian Vettel has won the third free practice session on the Circuit of the Americas, as Ferrari grabbed a one-two in dry conditions in the United States ahead of Saturday's qualifying.

FP3 was the first dry session all weekend, which is why nearly every driver came out of the pit as soon as the light turned green. Everyone wanted to get some track-time in on dry conditions ahead of qualifying and the race, something which wasn't possible on Friday.

The Ferrari cars came out on top in that first run. Kimi Raikkonen set the pace with a decent 1:35.514, with teammate Sebastian Vettel only four hundredths behind. Surprisingly, Esteban Ocon was in first and even more surprisingly, Stoffel Vandoorne was fourth, ahead of the Red Bull and the Mercedes cars (and Fernando Alonso!), who were both running long-run programs rather than testing their one-lap pace.

Raikkonen and Vettel both improved on their times in the second run, and switched places in the third stint, with Vettel going quickest with a 1:33.797, almost eight tenths quicker than the two Mercedes cars in P3 and P4. Two different world on Friday and Saturday, it looks like, as the Italian team was nowhere near Mercedes in the wet conditions but vastly quicker than the Silver Arrows on slick tyres. Red Bull were over a second slower than Ferrari, with Max Verstappen leading Daniel Ricciardo by a few tenths.

In the final few minutes, every single car once again emerges from the pitlane for a final run on fresh ultrasoft tyres, in an attempt to practice for the qualifying session which takes place in a few hours. Charles Leclerc found himself best of the rest in P7, and Hamilton overtook Bottas and almost beat the Ferrari's. Just 0.073 separated him from Vettel in P1.

All in all, these are encouraging signs for qualifying later on Saturday, as Vettel, who will take a three-place grid penalty, showed that he can keep up with the best of them. Let's see who can take pole in a few hours!

FP3 CLASSIFICATION: So far, so fast for @ScuderiaFerrari  #USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hQlhBVueeL

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 20, 2018