Despite falling behind the Ferraris on Friday, the reigning World Champ came back strong in Practice Three, making his mark ahead of qualifying.Vettel crossed the line with a 1:37.258 to finish 0.420s up on Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Felipe Massa was third quickest, a further 0.162s off the pace, while Mark Webber finished in fourth place.
Jenson Button was the faster of the two McLaren drivers, claiming fifth place ahead of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.
Report: Track temperature was sitting at 34'C as the final practice for the European GP got underway under blue skies. Jaime Alguersuari was the first man out on track, leading out the field for their installation laps. Jarno Trulli set the early pace ahead of Timo Glock before Sergio Perez and then Alguersuari moved ahead of them.
Nick Heidfeld was the next to lead the way with a 1:41.903 before lowering the benchmark time to by eight-tenths. However, his reign was short-lived as Fernando Alonso hit the front with a 1:39.743 while Nico Rosberg took second place. Felipe Massa was fourth ahead of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil.
Massa improved his time, slotting in behind his team-mate while Jenson Button took third place, just half a second adrift of Alonso's best. Meanwhile, neither Sebastian Vettel nor Mark Webber had posted a lap time despite half the session having already past.
Vettel finally headed out, immediately hitting the front with a 1:38.999. His team-mate Webber claimed fourth place behind Alonso and Button. Ferrari continued playing around with their front wings, still undecided as to which route they wanted to go ahead of qualifying.
Vettel coninued lapping, lowering the benchmark time as Webber improved to second before losing out to Schumacher, who was just 0.105s behind Vettel. Sergio Perez, on the softer tyres, moved up to sixth place. Rosberg overhauled Vettel before Massa, despite a bit of a scruffy lap, went quicker still.
Alonso put in fastest times through all three sectors on his way to a 1:37.678, six-tenths up on Massa's best. Button joined the Ferraris at the front as Massa closed up on his team-mate but still fell a tenth short. Webber took third behind the Ferraris, however, it was all-change as Vettel put in fastest times in all three sectors to take the P1 slot with a 1:37.258 despite behind held up by a Lotus.
The session ended with Vettel quickest ahead of Alonso and Massa and Kamui Kobayashi putting in a massive slide that ended with his front wing in the barriers.
Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m37.258 15 laps
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m37.678 + 0.420s 16 laps
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m37.840 + 0.582s 17 laps
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m38.068 + 0.810s 13 laps
5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.326 + 1.068s 13 laps
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.580 + 1.322s 15 laps
7. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.741 + 1.483s 13 laps
8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m38.799 + 1.541s 14 laps
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m38.822 + 1.564s 17 laps
10. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m39.113 + 1.855s 15 laps
11. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m39.411 + 2.153s 19 laps
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.778 + 2.520s 18 laps
13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m39.823 + 2.565s 18 laps
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.848 + 2.590s 18 laps
15. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.888 + 2.630s 17 laps
16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m39.987 + 2.729s 18 laps
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m40.004 + 2.746s 16 laps
18. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m40.239 + 2.981s 20 laps
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m41.267 + 4.009s 15 laps
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m41.690 + 4.432s 18 laps
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m42.557 + 5.299s 18 laps
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m43.243 + 5.985s 17 laps
23. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m43.309 + 6.051s 18 laps
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m44.630 + 7.372s 19 laps
Source: Planet-F1
