Hamilton, Mercedes close out Russian GP practice fastest

Lewis Hamilton closed out practice for the Russian Grand Prix at the top of the timesheets, heading up another one-two finish for Mercedes at the Sochi Autodrom as Formula 1 title rival Sebastian Vettel finished six-tenths of a second off the pace.

After locking out the top two positions in FP2 on Friday afternoon, Hamilton and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas produced a repeat result in final practice, laying down an impressive pace with their final qualifying simulations on the Hypersoft tyre.

Hamilton recorded a fastest lap time of 1m33.067s to finish two-tenths of a second clear of Bottas, leaving Ferrari driver Vettel to settle for third place in the final standings, six-tenths of a second off Hamilton's time.

Vettel's session ended on a sour note as he was forced to abandon his car at the end of the pit lane after a timing error from Ferrari almost saw the German pass through a red light, only avoiding doing so by slamming hard on the brakes at the last minute.

Red Bull took fifth and sixth place in FP3 with Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo respectively, but both drivers opted to focus on their long-run pace through the session due to their pending grid penalties following earlier power unit changes.

Charles Leclerc finished as the best of the midfield runners in FP3, taking seventh for Alfa Romeo Sauber ahead of Force India's Esteban Ocon. Kevin Magnussen was ninth-fastest for Haas, while Sergio Perez completed the top 10 in the second Force India car.