Ferrari's Vettel quickest in final Aussie practice

The German trumped Mercedes duo Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in practice ahead of Saturday's qualifying for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel of Germany drives the Scuderia Ferrari SF70H on track during final practice for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park on Saturday.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel trumped Mercedes duo Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in practice ahead of Saturday's qualifying for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Vettel unleashed a best lap of one minute 23.380 seconds to finish top of the timesheets in FP3 in the final hit-out before qualifying to decide the grid positions for Sunday's season-opening race.

The German's time was 0.479 seconds quicker than Mercedes No. 2 Bottas with Hamilton a further 0.011 seconds down on the lead time. It was Ferrari's best showing so far this weekend after their superior pre-season test times in Barcelona. The session came to a premature halt when Canadian Lance Stroll crashed his Williams into a barrier and brought out the red flag.

Stroll came to grief on the approach to turn 11/12 and the car's right-rear end slid into the barrier. Ferrari's other driver Kimi Raikkonen was fourth quickest from Renault's Nico Hulkenberg and Australia's Daniel Ricciardo in a Red Bull.

Raikkonen's Ferrari came to a stop early in the session and was told through the team radio that he had a rear-left puncture. Following a short delay, he returned to the pits.