Hamilton edges Rosberg in close FP3

© XPB 

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of final practice for the Russian Grand Prix, with the two Mercedes drivers separated by just 0.068s.

The defending champion took top spot on his final flying lap in the session having struggled to put a clean lap together on his first attempt. With Nico Rosberg so close behind, it throws up the prospect of a straight fight between the Mercedes pair for pole position.

Ferrari had a more productive session after Sebastian Vettel's problems in FP2, with Vettel carrying out plenty of long running as he managed 28 laps in the hour-long session. With the most mileage, Vettel also ended up with the third fastest time but was 0.6s slower than Hamilton as Ferrari is left with a big gap to try and close in qualifying.

Kimi Raikkonen was fourth but a further 0.7s behind his team-mate, with the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas just 0.2s further back. Max Verstappen, Jenson Button, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten, with Daniel Riciardo the lead Red Bull in 11th but over two seconds slower than Hamilton.

Q1 looks set to be an exciting fight between a number of teams, with Daniil Kvyat in 13th just 0.8s quicker than Felipe Nasr who was slowest overall in FP3. Sauber, Manor, Renault and Haas all look set to fight for a place in Q2 this afternoon.

Turn 13 proved to be the most difficult corner during the final hour of practice, with numerous drivers running wide. The corner requires braking while turning slightly left before a tight right-hander, and Perez was first to go straight on, failing to turn around cleanly and needing to be pushed backwards by marshals before rejoining.

Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean all also went straight on at the same corner, highlighting how easy it will be for drivers to make mistakes in qualifying.

AS IT HAPPENED: Russian Grand Prix - FP3

Exclusive Valtteri Bottas Q&A

Silbermann says ... 'Russia OK' shock

Romain Grosjean column: Haas brought back down to earth

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

PosDriverTeamTimeLaps
01Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:36.40317
02Nico RosbergMercedes1:36.47122
03Sebastian VettelFerrari1:37.00728
04Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1:37.72714
05Felipe MassaWilliams1:37.91816
06Valtteri BottasWilliams1:37.98516
07Max VerstappenToro Rosso1:38.13322
08Jenson ButtonMcLaren1:38.26014
09Carlos SainzToro Rosso1:38.46525
10Sergio PerezForce India1:38.54218
11Daniel RicciardoRed Bull1:38.62223
12Fernando AlonsoMcLaren1:38.63312
13Daniil KvyatRed Bull1:39.04715
14Nico HulkenbergForce India1:39.16216
15Esteban GutierrezHaas1:39.23018
16Kevin MagnussenRenault1:39.23816
17Romain GrosjeanHaas1:39.23915
18Jolyon PalmerRenault1:39.58919
19Rio HaryantoManor1:39.59919
20Pascal WehrleinManor1:39.66318
21Marcus EricssonSauber1:39.74023
22Felipe NasrSauber1:39.89819