Hungarian GP: Rosberg beats Verstappen by 0.002s to lead FP3

Rosberg finished on top with a lap of 1:20.261 - the fastest time of the weekend so far - but Red Bull's Max Verstappen was just 0.002s slower in second place.

Daniel Ricciardo was third in the second Red Bull, as Lewis Hamilton had to settle for fourth position, over half a second slower than teammate Rosberg.

Kimi Raikkonen was the quickest Ferrari driver in fifth, with teammate Sebastian Vettel in sixth, but nearly a second off the pace.

Fernando Alonso continued to show promising speed in the McLaren, winding up seventh fastest ahead of the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Force India's Sergio Perez.

Renault's Jolyon Palmer was a surprising 10th quickest.

Trying to make up for the lost time yesterday, Hamilton was quick to start work, the Briton flying to the top of the times straight away with a 1:21.441 on supersofts, despite a big lock-up at Turn 12.

Hamilton was nearly three seconds quicker than his closest rival at that point before Felipe Massa climbed up to second in the Williams, six tenths off the pace.

Ten minutes in, Ricciardo went out for his first run on supersofts, having not used them on Friday, and moved to P1, outpacing Hamilton by over four tenths of a second.

Vettel looked set to challenge Ricciardo's time on his first flyer, but the Ferrari driver made a mistake and wet off at Turn 12.

Seventeen minutes in, Rosberg completed his first run on supersofts and went quickest with a 1:20.811, over two tenths quicker than Ricciardo.

The championship leader went even faster on the following lap, lowering the benchmark to a 1:20.547, still a tenth slower than his best from FP2.

Ricciardo finally showed Red Bull's real pace as he moved up to second, just 0.179s behind Rosberg.

With some 22 minutes left on the clock, Raikkonen climbed up to third as Hamilton hit trouble, reporting his car was overheating as he tried to complete another run.

The Briton pulled off into the pits and his mechanics started working to replace his seat, Hamilton returning to the track a few minutes later.

Rosberg set the fastest time of the weekend with less than 10 minutes left, the German posting a 1:20.261 to open a gap of almost half a second to Ricciardo.

Hamilton also improved, but he had to settle for third position, over half a second off his teammate's pace. Late in the session, Hamilton went off as he pushed to improve his time.

Verstappen completed a sensational Sector 3 to jump up to second in the Red Bull with six minutes to go, just 0.002s behind Rosberg. 

Free practice 3 results

Pos.	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	Mercedes	25	1'20.261
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	TAG	10	1'20.263	0.002	0.002
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	TAG	22	1'20.726	0.465	0.463
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Mercedes	23	1'20.769	0.508	0.043
5	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Ferrari	18	1'20.859	0.598	0.090
6	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Ferrari	22	1'21.185	0.924	0.326
7	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	Honda	11	1'21.584	1.323	0.399
8	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	Mercedes	21	1'21.649	1.388	0.065
9	Sergio Perez	Force India	Mercedes	22	1'21.672	1.411	0.023
10	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	Renault	19	1'21.935	1.674	0.263
11	Felipe Massa	Williams	Mercedes	28	1'21.975	1.714	0.040
12	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	Renault	13	1'21.989	1.728	0.014
13	Jenson Button	McLaren	Honda	11	1'22.009	1.748	0.020
14	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	Ferrari	15	1'22.142	1.881	0.133
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas	Ferrari	13	1'22.284	2.023	0.142
16	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	21	1'22.402	2.141	0.118
17	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	Mercedes	22	1'22.427	2.166	0.025
18	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	18	1'22.541	2.280	0.114
19	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	Ferrari	23	1'22.816	2.555	0.275
20	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	Ferrari	23	1'23.219	2.958	0.403
21	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	Mercedes	24	1'23.311	3.050	0.092
22	Rio Haryanto	Manor	Mercedes	23	1'23.513	3.252	0.202