Belgian GP: Williams outside top ten after FP3

On a day that was dry but with damp patches still around the circuit the Williams F1 team would get ready for the final practice session for the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix. Both Williams drivers would go out early with Pastor Maldonado setting a 1m:57.824 to be third just behind team-mate Bruno Senna, 1m:53.647. Bruno would improve on his time with a 1m:53.647. Bruno would continue to find pace setting a 1m:52.562 to be quickest by a considerable margin. Pastor was now second as both Williams drivers pitted. With thirty minutes of the session Pastor would begin another run setting a 1m:50.352 to be second behind Perez, 1m:49.637.

As the session continued Bruno would find himself dropping down the order as others went quicker. Bruno would set a 1m:50.363 but was down in thirteenth. At this time Pastor was in ninth. At the front it was now Webber quickest, 1m:49.164, from Vettel. Alonso was in third from Raikkonen in fourth.

Ten minutes remaining Pastor was in twelfth and Bruno seventeenth. Pastor would return to the track for his qualifying simulation. Bruno would also come out with seven minutes remaining. Perez and Kobayashi would benefit from using the softer tyre with Perez fastest, 1m:48.850, and Kobayashi second. As the final minutes counted down the track became very busy with all but Vettel out on the track. Pastor would complete his lap to move up to eighth with a 1m:49.561. At the front Alonso would go fastest with a 1m:48.542.

Vettel was now out on the track with Pastor now ninth. Button was now fourth, 1m:49.091, followed by Massa, Webber, Grosjean and Vettel. Raikkonen was on a quick lap which would see him second, 1m:48.683. Pastor was now eleventh while Bruno was still down in seventeenth with a 1m:50.039. For these final runs everyone was on the medium tyre. The session would come to a close with Alonso still fastest from Raikkonen and Perez. Bruno would improve with a 1m:50.027 but remained seventeenth. On their return to the pits the drivers would take the opportunity to complete practice starts. Despite their lack of pace both Williams rivers would report that all was OK ahead of qualifying.

Pos  Driver         	 Team		       Time      Laps
 1.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m48.542s 18
 2.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault         1m48.683s 21
 3.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m48.850s 23
 4.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m48.863s 20
 5.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m49.091s 18
 6.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m49.092s 16
 7.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m49.164s 21
 8.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault         1m49.266s 23
 9.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m49.292s 23
10.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m49.382s 22
11.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault      1m49.561s 23
12.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m49.615s 19
13.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m49.621s 26
14.  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India-Mercedes  1m49.674s 23
15.  Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.710s 21
16.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.776s 22
17.  Bruno Senna         Williams-Renault      1m50.027s 20
18.  Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham-Renault      1m52.339s 21
19.  Charles Pic         Marussia-Cosworth     1m52.566s 20
20.  Timo Glock          Marussia-Cosworth     1m52.630s 18
21.  Vitaly Petrov       Caterham-Renault      1m52.809s 22
22.  Pedro de la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth          1m53.383s 22
23.  Narain Karthikeyan  HRT-Cosworth          1m53.562s 23
24.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m58.113s 5