Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas top timing board

Britain's Lewis Hamilton and Finland's Valtteri Bottas topped the timing board on Saturday in the third and final free practice session ahead of the qualifying round for the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix race.

Hamilton, who was the current championship leader on 281 points, set a new record lap time of 1:33.067 at the Sochi Autodrome, 0.254 seconds faster than his teammate, Bottas, reports Efe.

Ferrari had to settle for third and fourth on the timesheet, with Germany's Sebastian Vettel (+0.600), who is second in the driver standings on 241, and Finland's Kimi Raikkonen (+0.621), who is third in the championship on 174.

The Russian GP race takes place in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Sunday.

The drivers will battle it out over the course of 53 laps of the 5.848-kilometre long circuit.