F1: Hamilton Tops Final Practice In Australia

Formula 1

F1: Hamilton Tops Final Practice In Australia

Lewis Hamilton's McLaren paces Free Practice Three in Melbourne...

Jared Turner | Posted March 16, 2012 Melbourne (AUS)

Lewis Hamilton was stout in final Australian GP practice. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

It might just be a McLaren kind of day in Melbourne.

One of the favorites heading into Sunday's 2012 Formula One season opener at Albert Park, McLaren did little to change that perception as Lewis Hamilton paced final practice Saturday ahead of Australian Grand Prix qualifying.

Hamilton, who waited until the last five minutes of the one-hour session to show his hand, moved to the top with a lap of 1:25:681.

The Lotus of Romain Grosjean (1:25:758) and the Red Bull of Mark Webber (1:25:900) followed, as McLaren's Jenson Button and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg completed the top five.

Saturday's practice is easily the best indication yet of where teams stack up heading into the F1 opener, after both of Friday's 90-minute practices were run on a mostly-wet track that forced drivers to play it safe.

Friday's poor weather gave way to sunny skies and a dry a track for FP3 but it wasn't all sunshine for Germans Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher.

Despite both posting solid times, the two spun separately in the final minutes, with Vettel's Red Bull (seventh quickest) sliding into the gravel at Turn 6 and Schumacher's Mercedes (sixth quickest) later getting out of control and stuck in the gravel at Turn 9.

Williams' Pastor Maldonado, Sauber's Sergio Perez and Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10.

Drivers get a two-hour break before returning to the track for three rounds of knockout qualifying to set the grid for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

Live coverage begins on SPEED at 2 a.m. ET.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.