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Hungarian GP: Sebastian Vettel leads Ferrari one-two in practice

Sebastian Vettel shattered the Hungaroring track record as he set a scintillating pace and led a Ferrari one-two in final practice for Formula 1's Hungarian Grand Prix

Vettel clocked a 1m17.017s on the super-softs during his qualifying simulation to finish the session 0.475s quicker than Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

The lap was 1.464 seconds quicker than the previous track record, set by Rubens Barrichello in 2004.

Mercedes struggled for speed, with Valtteri Bottas Ferrari's closest challenger in third, 0.897s off the pace, with Lewis Hamilton half a second further back in fifth.

Mercedes focused on running the soft tyre in the first half of the session while the rest of the field chose the super-soft rubber.

Vettel set the early pace using that compound, clocking a 1m17.790s, 0.119s quicker than team-mate Raikkonen.

Hamilton's best effort on the softs was 0.949s off the leading pace, with Bottas a further tenth back.

Attention then turned to qualifying preparation, with teams running low fuel and bolting on a fresh set of super-softs.

Vettel slashed seven tenths off his previous time on the softs to extend his advantage at the top of the standings.

When Mercedes tried the super-softs, it was unable to match that pace - with Hamilton struggling for grip and having a couple of off-track excursions.

Max Verstappen was the leading Red Bull driver in fourth, 1.177s off the pace, as team-mate Daniel Ricciardo hit trouble.

Ricciardo, who had led Friday practice, failed to complete a qualifying simulation after stopping on track midway through the session with what the team suspected was a hydraulic problem. That left him eighth.

Stoffel Vandoorne pumped in an impressive lap in the closing stages to vault up to sixth, 1.621s off the pace, two tenths quicker than and three places ahead of McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg was seventh while team-mate Jolyon Palmer, who had his first clean session of the weekend, completed the top 10.

Felipe Massa ended his session early as he felt unwell again.

The Williams driver was taken to hospital in Budapest after Friday practice for precautionary checks but was given the all-clear to compete in final practice.

After 12 laps, he asked the team to stop and his fitness is set to be evaluated ahead of qualifying.

If he is not able to take part, the likely replacement will be Williams reserve driver Paul di Resta, who last competed in F1 with Force India in 2013.

PRACTICE THREE RESULTS:

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m17.017s - 17
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m17.492s 0.475s 16
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m17.914s 0.897s 15
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m18.194s 1.177s 25
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m18.434s 1.417s 14
6 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Honda 1m18.638s 1.621s 18
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m18.699s 1.682s 20
8 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m18.714s 1.697s 7
9 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m18.884s 1.867s 14
10 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m18.956s 1.939s 19
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Renault 1m19.300s 2.283s 22
12 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m19.352s 2.335s 22
13 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Renault 1m19.455s 2.438s 23
14 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m19.609s 2.592s 22
15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m19.622s 2.605s 21
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m19.895s 2.878s 19
17 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m20.255s 3.238s 12
18 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m20.379s 3.362s 24
19 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber/Ferrari 1m20.446s 3.429s 24
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m20.748s 3.731s 19

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