Mutate Now

The cloud cover was thick with rain showers on the radar, but P3 in Malaysia went off without a hitch. Here’s the play by play action from our twitter feed (@mut8org plus the final results:

and they’re off! Hamilton leaves the garage as Petrov pulls in…

looks overcast but dry/clear for the Malaysian Formula 1 P3

53:40 Sergio Perez isn’t suited up nor in the car yet. talking to techs in the garage instead. wonder what he’s thinking right now…

BBC pit-lane reporter Natalie Pinkham reports fairly thick cloud cover, hazy atmosphere, air temp of 28C, track temp of 35C + 83% humidity

48:48 Kobayashi is in his Sauber car while the techs get it ready to roll, Massa just chillin in the garage with his usual Guarana soda.

45:15 Petrov in full effect now with a lap time just over 1:39 in his Lotus Renault car. Car sure does remind us of the JPS Lotus 79′s

d’Ambrosio a bit slow with a lap time of 1:44… Heidfeld in the lead right now with 1:39.426… Button and Webber still warming up

38:38 Hamilton has fastest lap now with 1:38.940…Button attempting to beat it, but falls short @ 1:39:72…Heidfeld in between McLarens

33:33 Current positions = Hamilton, Heidfeld, Button, Petrov, Vettel, Maldonado, Perez, Rosberg, Buemi & Kobayashi.

30:40 Perez in the top 10 so far! So far so good! Alonso just jumped into 6th position, bumping rest of pack down the lineup…

29:44 Alonso 4th now and Massa is on track too now. Hamilton still at the top and Sutil holds 10th position as Massa jumps into 5th.

26:51 Massa takes top position with 1:38:926! Di Resta back on track now after a minor spinout.

25:15 di Resta spins off again? guess he’s trying out some new moves…

23:40 Current positions = Massa Hamilton Alonso Heidfeld Button Petrov Vettel Maldonado Perez Sutil

20:35 Button bumps teammate from top spot with a 1:38.464 just before Vettel beats them both with a 1:38.213…Hamilton in 6th p now.

16:00 Buemi in 4th, Alguersuari 5th, Massa in 6th, Hamilton 7th while Schumacher slips into 2nd and Rosberg into 3rd. Vettel still at #1

Liuzzi still in the garage and hasn’t hit the track yet. Techs seem to be frantically working on something to get the car out there.

most lap times were set on the hard ‘prime’ tyres. Webber started on hard tyres but switched to softer option before setting his fastest lap

9:30 Alonso leads the pack now w/ a 1:37.284 and Massa follows w/ +0.478. Vettel in 3rd, Schumacher 4th, Rosberg 5th, Button down to 6th

6:30 Button back on top (as his father watches with pride from the paddock). 1:36.805 is the new time to beat!

4:00 Hamilton beats it almost as soon as it’s set – 1:36.340 with Webber VERY close behind @ 1:36.630 and Button follows with 1:36.762

Perez gives it one last shot with less than a minute left

Sergio Perez finishes in 12th with 1:38.488 in his last lap. Not bad for a rookie!

Final Results of Practice 3

Pos  Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1  Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.340 11
2  Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:36.630 0.290 16
3  Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.762 0.422 14
4  Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:37.115 0.775 17
5  Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:37.175 0.835 14
6  Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.284 0.944 11
7  Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:37.297 0.957 17
8  Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:37.762 1.422 12
9  Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.059 1.719 18
10  Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:38.300 1.960 20
11  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:38.307 1.967 20
12  Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.448 2.108 17
13  Adrian Sutil Force India-Merc 1:38.464 2.124 16
14  Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:38.597 2.257 15
15  Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:38.665 2.325 14
16  Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:38.681 2.341 16
17  Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:38.716 2.376 14
18  Paul di Resta Force India-Merc 1:38.864 2.524 13
19  Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:39.260 2.920 19
20  Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:39.699 3.359 15
21  Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:41.215 4.875 17
22  Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:41.414 5.074 18
23  Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1:43.147 6.807 6
24  Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:43.383 7.043 11

Results via the official Formula 1 website