World Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel spun out but local hero Mark Webber kept Red Bull’s hopes high in final practice for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton carried over the team’s form from the opening run on Friday when he topped the timesheets during the third session before qualifying.

Hamilton produced a lap of 1m25.681s to beat out the surprise second-fastest man – French rookie Romain Grosjean in a Lotus.

Grosjean was less than a tenth of a second behind Hamilton and in front of third-placed Webber.

World champions Vettel and Michael Schumacher – who led the session for a lengthy period in his Mercedes – found themselves bunkered.

Vettel spun off at turn six in an innocuous incident which landed him in the gravel trap.

Minutes later and just before the end of practice, Schumacher was also beached.

Jenson Button in the second McLaren was fourth quickest from the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, followed by Schumacher and Vettel.

Daniel Ricciardo, the West Australian making his debut at Albert Park for Toro Rosso, was ahead of his French teammate Jean-Eric Verge by the barest of margins.

Ricciardo was a clear leader on Friday when he finished seventh and Vergne struggled to reach 19th.

But on Saturday, the Australian clocked a lap of 1:26.723 to scrape into the top 10 while Vergne crossed the line in 1:26.733.

Returning world champion Kimi Raikkonen was well behind his Lotus teammate Grosjean, finishing the 12th quickest, more than a second off the pace.