Belgian Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso fastest in 3rd practice

Formula One championship leader Fernando Alonso posted the fastest time in Saturday's third practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix, with drivers benefiting from good conditions to frantically fine-tune their cars for qualifying.

Heavy rain marred Friday's two practice runs, restricting drivers to a handful of laps, so the emphasis was on cramming as much testing as possible into the final practice run before the afternoon's qualifying.

This time, the Spa circuit was splashed in bright sunshine and completely dry.

Alonso, who is chasing his third Formula One title, had a best lap time of 1 minute, 48.542 seconds in his Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen of Finland, the 2007 F1 champion, clocked 1:48.683.

Mexico's Sergio Perez was third quickest, while Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg pulled out after five laps.