Bottas pips Hamilton in FP3 while Ferrari slips away
F1 News
- Jake Williams-Smith
Valtteri Bottas topped the final practice session ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.041s while Ferrari looked to be a long way off the leading pace.
Nobody was particularly eager to get out on track early on to clean up the track. A 15-minute lull at the beginning of the session was eventually broken however and times did begin to come in.
George Russell didn’t get to set a proper lap however, the Briton suffering a loss of power almost as soon as he left the garage.
Ferrari’s initial runs might give the Tifosi some hope, trading fastest sector times with both Mercedes’ and once again it was Charles Leclerc leading the way from his teammate in practice.
McLaren looked to be at the sharp end of the midfield once again but they were joined by a resurgent Renault. It’s a fight that could be very tight come qualifying.
Bottas continued to make his mark following his strong FP2, going 0.255s clear of anyone at the top of the times. The Finn is looking very comfortable around the Paul Ricard circuit.
Hamilton made a mistake on his first run but got within 0.041s of Bottas’ best but Ferrari’s early display was perhaps their best, Leclerc 0.4 and Sebastian Vettel 0.6s down on the Mercedes duo.
Vettel was able to get another run in and improve his time but stayed fourth behind his teammate. Red Bull found themselves over a second off of the leading pace with Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly reporting a lack of grip from the tyres.
Their unimpressive pace might just put them in the sights of McLaren and Renault come qualifying, with an upset elimination not out of the question.
Only a second separated sixth from 14th which could make qualifying a very close affair in the midfield battle.