Sebastian Vettel appears to have the upper hand ahead of qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver topped the timesheets in the final free practice session but there is very little to separate the top three teams at Hungaroring.
Vettel's best lap of 1:16.170, a track record, was a mere five hundredth up on second-placed Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen third and Lewis Hamilton fourth in the other Mercedes, half a second shy of the top time as the Hockenheim winner struggled to find the sweet spot.
Both Mercedes drivers spun out in the Turn 6 chicane complex during the session, suggesting that they are still hunting an optimum setup, however, they were not the only ones to get caught out at that spot. Hamilton complained about lack of grip.
Red Bull were bullish ahead of a circuit which is similar to Monaco, minus the yachts and ultra-rich, where their race pace is far better than their one-lap efforts, Daniel Ricciardo was fifth fastest and Max Verstappen next up, seven-tenths of a second separating the top six.
Team chief Christian Horner was expecting his drivers to be closer to the sharp end, "We have a bit of tidying up to do. Both drivers are not as happy as they were yesterday. Vettel's time is probably out of reach but Hamilton's time is in reach."
Renault appear to have found some pace in their package, with Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz seventh and eighth respectively, albeit 1.5 seconds down on Vettel's top time.
Romain Grosjean was ninth in the Haas, ahead of Pierre Gasly who rounded out the top ten in the Toro Rosso with, Honda also seeming to extract handy pace from their package around the twisty venue. Brendon Hartley was 12th in the other Toro Rosso.
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