| 10:50:33
| Welcome to F1-Live.com and live coverage of the third practice session of the French Grand Prix weekend. The 60-minute session gets underway shortly under blue sunny skies. |
| 10:52:16
| Felipe Massa emerged as the fastest runner in Friday free practice, recording a best lap of 1:15.306s in the morning session. The Ferrari driver would go on to set the second fastest time in the afternoon session. |
| 10:54:08
| Fernando Alonso led the way in the afternoon with a best lap of 1:15.778s in his Renault, less than a tenth clear of Massa. Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest in the second Ferrari, two-tenths adrift. |
| 10:56:05
| Lewis Hamilton, who along with Nico Rosberg will drop ten positions after qualifying due to his antics in Montreal, was fourth fastest but really struggling with the grip on offer from his McLaren Mercedes package. Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was seventh fastest. |
| 10:58:07
| Sebastian Vettel was the standout Friday performer as he set the fifth fastest time in his Toro Rosso Ferrari. Vettel was amongst the top ten runners pretty much throughout the three hours of free practice. Canadian Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica was sixth fastest in the leading BMW Sauber. |
| 10:59:10
| Race engines and gearboxes have been fitted to the cars overnight. A failure now could mean a grid position penalty. |
| 11:00:05
| The practice session is underway. With the new components fitted, most will complete an installation lap and then pit for checks. |
| 11:00:32
| Fisichella and Sutil are straight out for Force India. |
| 11:01:03
| Others follow the Force India duo out for what will be an installation lap. |
| 11:01:52
| Eleven runners are on track. |
| 11:02:53
| The early runners return to the pits as others now on their installation lap. Honda and Ferrari yet to head out. |
| 11:04:41
| Webber is the last to return to the pits. An empty circuit... |
| 11:08:10
| Yesterday we saw that as the circuit warmed though the day, the lap times declined. We could well see quicker laps in practice than in qualifying. |
| 11:08:33
| Nothing happening on track. All 20 runners firmly in the pits. |
| 11:13:36
| Sebastien Bourdais heads out in his STR. He was 13th fastest yesterday on a 1:16.758s best. |
| 11:14:09
| Jarno Trulli follows Bourdais out of the pits in his Toyota with team-mate Glock behind. |
| 11:14:30
| Nick Heidfeld heads out in his BMW Sauber. |
| 11:14:48
| Now Fisichella and Sutil join the action. |
| 11:15:07
| Bourdais is on his first timed lap of the session. |
| 11:15:46
| The Frenchman sets a first lap time of 1:17.5, seven-tenths off his Friday best. |
| 11:16:46
| Trulli takes over P1 for now with a number of drivers on first laps. |
| 11:17:18
| Sebstian Vettel is on track as Bourdais regains P1 from Glock, Trulli and Heidfeld. |
| 11:17:59
| Raikkonen, Alonso, Kovalainen and others now on track. |
| 11:18:20
| Vettel moves fastest to make it a STR one-two for the time being. |
| 11:19:17
| Bourdais pits as Trulli moves second fastest. |
| 11:19:38
| Raikkonen's first lap moves him third. Massa has just left the pit lane. |
| 11:20:22
| Piquet moves second in his Renault with Kovalainen now up to third behind Vettel. |
| 11:21:04
| Raikkonen regains third position from countryman Kovalainen. |
| 11:21:53
| Massa's first lap moves him fifth. |
| 11:23:32
| Piquet moves fastest in the Renault ahead of Vettel who has pitted. Raikkonen is third ahead of Hamilton who has just moves fourth. |
| 11:24:47
| Just the Red Bull duo of Webber and Coulthard yet to set a time. |
| 11:25:37
| Piquet pits. He is quicker than he was on Friday. |
| 11:25:58
| Hamilton improves and is now fastest for McLaren. |
| 11:27:04
| In this session some will complete a simulated qualifying lap with almost no fuel on board, as they prepare for Q1 and Q2, while the front-runners may carry fuel confident they can make Q3 which has race fuel on board. |
| 11:28:27
| Coulthard moves second fastest in his RB4. Team-mate Webber is still in the pits and must have a problem as he said Friday he needed more track time. |
| 11:30:14
| Kubica and Heidfeld are just 15th and 17th at the moment with Alonso in between in the Renault. |
| 11:30:57
| Rosberg moves sixth fastest. He and the team will be working out how best to recoever from a ten position grid penalty. |
| 11:32:15
| Vettel runs wide but is able to continue. He remains fourth fastest. |
| 11:33:02
| Bourdais is working his way up the timing screen in the second STR3. |
| 11:34:28
| Vettel remains on track. Most of the front-runners have pitted. |
| 11:35:02
| With 25 minutes remaining, Mark Webber heads out in his Red Bull. He has yet to set a time. |
| 11:36:14
| Vettel pits his Toro Rosso. Piquet is back out in his Renault and remains third fastest. |
| 11:37:26
| Webber moves P6 on his first timed lap. |
| 11:37:54
| Raikkonen and Massa are currently fifth and tenth. |
| 11:39:37
| Piquet moves fastest with what is the second fastest time of the weekend. It is safe to assume that that R28 is running very light. |
| 11:42:41
| Hamilton was on a fast lap but lost time as the lap progressed. Raikkonen moves third behinf Hamilton and Piquet. |
| 11:43:28
| Kovalainen moves the second McLaren into the top ten. He needs a strong showing this weekend. |
| 11:43:41
| Massa now up to P4 in the second Ferrari. |
| 11:45:48
| A gain from Bourdais who moves seventh fastest. Alonso is on track but not progressing from 17th at the moment. |
| 11:48:06
| Piquet and Hamilton have pitted as Coulthard loses time after running off track. |
| 11:48:59
| Vettel improves and is now fourth fastest in his STR. |
| 11:49:33
| Sutil has opted for a set of soft tyres with 11 minutes remaining. |
| 11:50:01
| Most of the front-runners are in the pits ahead of a final push at the end of the session. |
| 11:50:29
| Sutil pits on the soft tyre so no gain there. |
| 11:50:59
| Webber is back out and looking to improve on eighth. |
| 11:52:33
| Piquet and Hamilton back out. |
| 11:53:37
| Webber vaults second fastest in his Red Bull on what must be a low fuel run. |
| 11:55:45
| Piquet is on the soft tyre as he looks to better his own best time. In fact Hamiltona nd Kovalainen are also on the option tyre for this final stint. |
| 11:56:15
| Raikkonen and Massa in the pits. Most of the drivers are now on track for a final push. |
| 11:56:46
| Glock moves ninth on the soft tyre in his Toyota. Bourdais is also going the soft route. |
| 11:57:00
| Hamilton cuts across the Imola chicane. |
| 11:57:46
| Alonso remains 17th and has taken the option tyre as Glock runs wide exiting Nurburgring. |
| 11:57:59
| Rosberg moves fourth on the soft tyre. |
| 11:58:23
| Hamilton pits. Everyone else on track. |
| 11:58:54
| Now Webber pits his Red Bull. |
| 11:59:40
| Raikkonen moves P5 in his Ferrari. |
| 12:00:04
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 12:00:46
| Bourdais runs off track but is able to continue. Piquet joins Webber and Vettel in the pits. |
| 12:01:39
| So we have Piquet fastest from Webber, Vettel, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Trulli, Hamilton, Bourdais, Massa and Coulthard. Qualifying will not end like this... |
