Formula 1

Formula 1: Bottas fastest in FP3 ahead of impressive McLaren duo

Mercedes take a less than dominant 1st in the final free practice session. McLaren had a strong session and were close behind in 2nd and 3rd. Daniel Ricciardo placed a solid 4th, but brought out the red flag as his Renault broke down on track.

Gridlock

As the cars took to the track, traffic immediately became an problem. Despite a new rule punishing slow driving on an outlap, the issue persisted and could play a huge factor in qualifying, similar to last year. Numerous lap times were hampered, including those of the Red Bull cars, who eventually finished 6th and 7th.

The most significant moment came late in the session as Lewis Hamilton was impeded coming into the Parabolica. The Briton had to take evasive action and drove off the track to escape a collision with the two slow moving cars in front.

Report:

Mercedes led the way early on, but were pipped by Max Verstappen with just under half the session to go. The Silver Arrows took to the track for one last qualifying simulation run and Valtteri Bottas reclaimed 1st place. Lewis Hamilton had a scrappy lap and wasn’t able to match his teammate. He would eventually finish 5th. Verstappen wasn’t able to launch another challenge, he remained in his garage after a late red flag.

The midfield remains incredibly unpredictable with numerous constructors showing strong pace. There was suspicion that Alpha Tauri may be running a slightly higher engine mode as their car continued to feature in the top half of the grid. The Renault powered cars were strong around the historic track and, late in the session, Lando Norris climbed to a superb 2nd place. Immediately afterwards, Daniel Ricciardo showed Renault’s true pace and took 3rd. However, the jubilation was short lived as Ricciardo pulled off the track in sector 2. His Renault lost power on the exit of turn 5 and the team now have a huge task to repair the car for Qualifying.

This caused a red flag with 10 minutes to go and scuppered many drivers final runs. However, the position switching was not over just yet and Carlos Sainz launched his car into 2nd place, 2 tenths off Bottas. A strong result for McLaren, who will be looking to carry this performance into qualifying.

The Ferrari powered cars continued to struggle and were 5 of the 7 slowest cars. Charles Leclerc was the highest placed in 11th, but was lucky as many cars weren’t able to complete their final flying laps. George Russell and Nicolas Latifi were the remaining two cars in 19th and 18th and were both over 7 tenths away from breaking into the top 10.

The push to break up the traffic in Monza has clearly not been as successful as originally planned. Mercedes are still expected to dominate, but all eyes will be on the final podium position. As temperatures are set to soar, it appears that the Renault powered cars have their sights set on silverware.

FP3 Results:

  1. Bottas 1:20.089
  2. Sainz +0.229
  3. Norris +0.323
  4. Ricciardo +0.330
  5. Hamilton +0.350
  6. Verstappen +0.367
  7. Albon +0.474
  8. Ocon +0.604
  9. Stroll +0.715
  10. Perez +0.808
  11. Leclerc +0.828
  12. Gasly +0.847
  13. Kvyat +0.864
  14. Grosjean +1.116
  15. Vettel +1.174
  16. Magnussen +1.347
  17. Raikkonen +1.370
  18. Russell +1.588
  19. Latifi +1.675
  20. Giovinazzi +2.001

Featured Image Credit: @MclarenF1 Official Twitter

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