Greater Noida, Oct 26 (IANS): Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets once again in the shortened third practice session of the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here Saturday.

The German driver, who had topped the two practice sessions Friday, looks well set to bag pole position in the qualifying session later in the day. Vettel clocked one minute and 25.333 seconds, a remarkable 0.560 seconds ahead of second placed teammate Mark Webber.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was third in 1:26.105.

The practice session was first delayed and then shortened due to smog in the morning. The session was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. but just before the start, the race organisers announced that it would be delayed by 20 minutes.

Formula 1's strict regulations demand that there be at least two hours between the end of Saturday’s practice session and the start of qualifying. Therefore the session, which started at 11.20 a.m., lasted only for 40 minutes.

The qualifying session for Sunday’s race will start at 2 p.m.