Austrian GP: Williams 6th & 7th in FP3 prior to rain

Team Summary:
The Williams Martini team would be presented with a dry track for the final practice for the 2015 Austrian Grand Prix, but there were dark clouds overhead with the possibility of rain. With the start of the session the first quick time would be a 1m:12.469 from Rosberg from Maldonado. Hamilton would go quickest with a 1m:11.131 followed by Maldonado and Hulkenberg. But Rosberg would move to the top with a 1m:11.060 only to be be passed by Hamilton with a 1m:10.358. Rosberg would improve with a 1m:10.520 but remained second with ten minutes of the session completed. A 1m:10.255 from Hamilton improved his quickest time but Vettel would move ahead with a 1m:09.994.

With just over forty five minutes remaining both Williams cars would come out for their first runs. Hamilton was on a quick lap but would make a mistake at the final corner not improving. Raikkonen was now third behind Hamilton. Felipe and Valtteri were fifth and sixth after their first quick runs on the soft tyre. Reports had rain falling on the track in the next fifteen minutes. Both Williams drivers continued on a longer run on their soft tyres with Felipe pitting first after nine laps. Valtteri would also come in. Felipe would be first out for Williams on the super soft tyre looking to beat the rain. More drivers were coming out for their option tyre runs with thirty minutes remaining.

But Alonso would stop on the main straight seeing the red flag come out. This was not good news for Felipe who was on his option tyre run. With the rain now falling it there was now no real point in trying a slick tyre run. The track would empty as the rain continued to fall. But Hulkenberg and Perez would come back out on the intermediate tyre with reports having the rain staying for the rest of the day. Both would pit having complained of the slippery conditions. After the dry running the Williams drivers were sixth and seventh. The Williams team were assessing the weather and were waiting before they made the decision to go back out.

Vettel was back out on the intermediate and Sainz and Verstappen on the full wet with eight minutes remaining. Vettel and Sainz struggled in the wet conditions going off the track. Other drivers were also coming out on the full wet including Raikkonen and Felipe as the session drew to a close. Valtteri would also come out on the wet tyre to assess the conditions. The session would end with Felipe and Valtteri's lap times in the wet were in the 1m:33s.

Felipe Massa:
Felipe would follow team-mate Valtteri out for his installation lap, also on the soft tyre. Felipe was first back out again on the soft tyre with his first time a 1m:11.231 to be tenth. His next quick lap was a 1m:10.408 to be fourth but he would drop to fifth behind Rosberg. Felipe would pit after a longer run on the soft tyre. Felipe would quickly back out on the option super soft tyre but would not set a time due to red flag. With rain falling Felipe would return to the track on the wet tyre as the session came to an end.

Valtteri Bottas:
Valtteri would be first out of the pits for his installation lap, running on the soft tyre. Valtteri would follow Felipe for his first timed run. Valtteri's first time was a 1m:10.971 to be seventh. He would follow Felipe up to the top of the times with a 1m:10.417 to be sixth right behind Felipe. Valtteri would also complete nine laps prior to pitting. Valtteri were not get to run on the option tyre but would joining Felipe out on the track running on the wet tyre to also assess the conditions.

Pos  Driver         	Team		        Gap      Laps
1  Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari			1m09.994s 16
2  Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		0.017s	  16
3  Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari			0.183s	  12
4  Sergio Perez		Force India-Mercedes	0.227s	  14
5  Nico Rosberg		Mercedes		0.338s	  23
6  Felipe Massa		Williams-Mercedes	0.414s	  18
7  Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	0.423s	  14
8  Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	0.442s	  23
9  Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes		0.582s	  12
10 Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Mercedes		0.869s	  8
11 Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1.015s	  14
12 Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari		1.064s	  22
13 Carlos Sainz		Toro Rosso-Renault	1.145s	  18
14 Daniil Kvyat		Red Bull-Renault	1.145s	  14
15 Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda		1.174s	  13
16 Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1.825s	  10
17 Felipe Nasr		Sauber-Ferrari		1.912s	  9
18 Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda		2.622s	  16
19 Will Stevens		Marussia-Ferrari	3.334s	  14
20 Roberto Merhi	Marussia-Ferrari	3.966s	  8