It was the catalyst to an error-strewn session because within seconds of the
track re-opening, Adrian Sutil lost his Force India on the run up the hill
through Massanet, hitting the barriers to his right.
In the final minute, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean again lost the back end of his car
at Ste Devote.
Clipping a barrier, the left-rear wheel worked loose, the impact pitching him
across the track and into more metal that dislodged the right-front.
It was Grosjean’s second practice shunt after the Frenchman lost an hour in
FP2 on Thursday, when Ste Devote again proved his undoing.
On the timesheet, Grosjean ultimately finished second behind Nico Rosberg who
completed a practice clean sweep, posting the quickest lap of the event so
far with a one minute 14.378secs.
Given the disruption, however, the majority of the drivers failed to come
anywhere near Rosberg, with Grosjean 0.661secs behind and with only three
other drivers within a second of the German.
Even Rosberg, though, had a moment as he kissed a barrier with his left-rear
on approach to the entrance of the tunnel.
Behind Grosjean were Red Bull’s triple world champion Sebastian Vettel,
Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, the latter
0.933secs adrift of his team-mate.
Kimi Raikkonen, who suffered a left-rear puncture at one stage, was sixth
quickest, 1.002secs down, followed by Mark Webber in his Red Bull and Force
India’s Paul Di Resta, the Scot 1.216secs off the pace.
Williams’ Pastor Maldonado and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10,
with McLaren duo Sergio Perez and Jenson Button 11th and 12th quickest, with
the Briton nearly 1.6secs down.
British rookie Max Chilton, for the second time in three sessions, was slowest
with a time of 1:19.228secs, 4.850secs behind Rosberg.
Third practice times:
1 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 1min 14.378secs
2 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus 1:15.039
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:15.261
4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:15.286
5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1:15.311
6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus 1:15.380
7 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:15.550
8 Paul Di Resta (Gbr) Force India 1:15.594
9 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:15.861
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber 1:15.926
11 Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren 1:15.958
12 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:15.976
13 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso 1:15.976
14 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso 1:16.060
15 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:16.068
16 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:16.105
17 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber 1:16.427
18 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:16.933
19 Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham 1:17.902
20 Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham 1:18.102
21 Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia 1:18.706
22 Max Chilton (Gbr) Marussia 1:19.228
(Edited by Giles Mole)