Valtteri Bottas makes it 3 out of 3 in Portugal, but focus has drifted toward the Portimao track as Sebastian Vettel managed to rip up a drain cover at turn 3.
Mercedes Masterclass
Following yesterdays incident filled sessions, FP3 was a much calmer affair. The Mercedes duo took their regular positions, but were neck and neck at the end of the session. Bottas bested Hamilton for the third time, but only by 0.029s. The team had focused on long runs and, as a result, Verstappen managed to close the gap to a tantalising 0.158s. Fellow Red Bull racer Albon managed 5th, only 0.3s away, but was pipped to 4th by a storming Gasly.
Manic Midfield
Leclerc continued Ferrari’s good form, finishing an encouraging 6th ahead of his future team-mate Sainz. Perez made it a clean sweep in the Racing Point camp, and will be looking to spoil any chance of McLaren regaining 3rd in the constructors.
The second McLaren of Norris finished 9th, but was the first driver to be a full second off the pace. Ocon rounded out the top 10, but the track does not look suited to the Renault R.S20.
Vettel was just pipped to a top 10 finish in front of Kvyat and a strong performing Raikkonen. Ricciardo spent most of the session in the garage and his limited running took him to a disappointing 14th.
Russell was not able to replicate his stunning 11th from yesterday, but looks poised to make another Q2 performance. Stroll hasn’t looked comfortable all weekend and fell to an unceremonious 16th place.
3 of the final four cars were Ferrari powered, as Giovinazzi, Magnussen, Latifi and Grosjean rounded out the grid.
If questions are raised of the safety of the Portimao track, we may see qualifying delayed if not postponed. While a similar incident happened at the 2017 Malaysian GP, Portimao is not a regular F1 venue. Track owners will not want their sole appearance in F1 to become a farce.
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
