March 19, 2016 – Lewis Hamilton kept Mercedes on top of the standings in practice for the 2016 Australian Grand Prix as the Briton clocked the fastest time on a dry track in the third free practice session today; he was followed by team-mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel respectively, who both were 2 tenths adrift.
However, the main talking point was an odd collision in the pitlane between Manor’s Rio Haryanto and Haas’ Romain Grosjean as both cars were released at the same time, with Haryanto failing to see Grosjean incoming.
Crash-tactic…. #F1 pic.twitter.com/yC2NE17hDo
— Jennie Gow (@JennieGow) March 19, 2016
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m25.624s | – | 24 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m25.800s | 0.176s | 25 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m25.852s | 0.228s | 25 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m26.257s | 0.633s | 28 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m26.435s | 0.811s | 23 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m26.701s | 1.077s | 26 |
| 7 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m26.730s | 1.106s | 28 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/TAG Heuer | 1m26.768s | 1.144s | 22 |
| 9 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m27.151s | 1.527s | 28 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m27.242s | 1.618s | 22 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1m27.263s | 1.639s | 20 |
| 12 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m27.341s | 1.717s | 20 |
| 13 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/TAG Heuer | 1m27.430s | 1.806s | 22 |
| 14 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m27.659s | 2.035s | 26 |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1m27.871s | 2.247s | 24 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m27.988s | 2.364s | 22 |
| 17 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1m28.117s | 2.493s | 24 |
| 18 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas/Ferrari | 1m28.284s | 2.660s | 21 |
| 19 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m28.292s | 2.668s | 11 |
| 20 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m28.293s | 2.669s | 26 |
| 21 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor/Mercedes | 1m29.046s | 3.422s | 18 |
| 22 | Rio Haryanto | Manor/Mercedes | 1m29.272s | 3.648s | 23 |
