Valtteri Bottas makes it a hat-trick throughout the practice sessions at Mugello. But Max Verstappen was perilously close, only 0.017s behind. Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly take best of the rest status with 4th and 5th respectively.
Report:
It was not quite business as usual for the Mercedes team during the final practice session. While no teams suffered any major incidents, it appears that the battle for pole will be slightly more tense than in recent sessions.
Valtteri Bottas remained in control, taking the fastest time in all 3 practice sessions, but Max Verstappen has consistently been very close. The Dutchman was a mere 0.017 seconds away from 1st and seemed remarkably comfortable around the tight and twisty track. The Red Bull has favoured downforce heavy tracks with high speed corners, and Mugello is full of them. Lewis Hamilton managed 3rd, 0.083 adrift, but Alexander Albon could only manage 8th, just over a second behind.
Racing Point have come out fighting with their drivers taking 4th and 6th, sandwiching Pierre Gasly in his Alpha Tauri. The Pink Mercedes hopes will be buoyed, as their championship rivals haven’t been able to dial it in around the new track. McLaren appear to have suffered the most as Carlos Sainz could only manage 12th, while teammate Lando Norris was a disheartening 19th. Renault also seem to be struggling, with Ocon 8th and Ricciardo 17th. The second Alpha Tauri of Daniil Kvyat finished a strong 9th.
Ferrari found some pace in the form of Charles Leclerc, who finished the session 7th, just under a second behind, but his team-mate was less fortunate, 18th and 1.6s behind. The rest of the Ferrari powered cars were in the bottom half of the grid, except for Romain Grosjean, who finished an encouraging 10th. The Alfa Romeos came 13th and 14th while the second Haas came 15th.
Finally, Williams had a mixed session as George Russell had to retire from the session with a brake-by-wire failure. The Briton was unable to set a time while Nicolas Latifi rose to 16th, ahead of a Ferrari and a Renault.
Red Bull will be looking to pounce on any opportunity they get this season, and there is a clear chance for victory around Mugello. With Mercedes lacking their crucial ‘party mode’, Red Bull have a golden opportunity to take a pole around a track that is predicted to be very difficult to overtake.
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