Lewis Hamilton led the way in final practice for the Hungarian GP but the threat from Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg is beginning to loom large.
Hamilton has topped all three practice sessions at the Hungaroring this weekend but his advantage over Rosberg, who struggled to find a balanced set-up on Friday, was trimmed to just a tenth of a second in the final outing before qualifying.
However, Rosberg was unable to complete the session after the engine on his W06 stalled at the end of the pitlane.
"Nico’s engine stalled but we don’t know why," said Mercedes team boss Paddy Lowe. "It wasn’t planned - we’ll look into it.
“We found some issues with the car from yesterday, which were fixed overnight. So he starts today with a bit of a clean sheet relative to yesterday. I think that’s why we’re seeing the two drivers very close again as they normally are.”
Sebastian Vettel was third for Ferrari, but almost a second down on Hamilton’s benchmark, while there were further problems for Kimi Raikkonen with the Finn denied any soft-tyre running after his car sprung a water leak. It was an unwelcome setback for the former world champion ahead of a weekend which is believed to be pivotal to his hopes of staying on for next season with the Scuderia.
Although Daniel Ricciardo made a mess of his flying lap, the increasingly-impressive Daniil Kvyat was fourth for Red Bull, building on the team's encouraging form on Friday when the former world champions jumped ahead of Ferrari and Williams to stand out as Mercedes' nearest challengers. Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz was fifth quickest, two places ahead of his team-mate Max Verstappen.
Grid position is regarded as critical at the Hungaroring on account of the difficulty of overtaking around the tight and twisty layout.
There was further encouragement for the beleaguered McLaren outfit, which has so far only scored points in two races this term, as Fernando Alonso finished eight, with Jenson Button 13th. The characteristics of the Hungaroring mean that the relative weakness of their Honda engine is not as apparent as elsewhere, sparking hope that for the first time this year a McLaren car may make it through to the top-10 shoot-out which concludes qualifying.
After the right-rear suspension on Sergio Perez’s Force India broke during Practice One, a failure which resulted in both of the team’s cars sitting out Practice Two and a new part being flown out overnight to Budapest, Perez and team-mate Hulkenberg completed the session without alarm. Hulkenberg ended P3 between the Toro Rossos in sixth, suggesting that, despite Friday's setback, this could yet prove to be a profitable weekend for the Silverstone-based team.
Qualifying takes place at 1pm with Sky F1’s coverage live from 12pm.
Practice Three timesheet:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:22.997
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:23.095
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:23.886
4. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:24.215
5. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:24.326
6. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:24.483
7. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:24.678
8. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:24.846
9. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:24.929
10. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:24.941
11. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:24.953
12. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:25.094
13. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:25.229
14. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:25.345
15. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:25.393
16. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:25.661
17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:26.060
18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:26.095
19. Will Stevens, Manor, 1:28.757
20. Roberto Merhi, Manor, 1:28.908