FP3 Tag

By FIA Mercedes Valtteri Bottas went quickest in final practice to the Chinese Grand Prix in a session curtailed due a heavy crash involving Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon.  With six minutes remaining in the session the Thai driver went wide in the final corner. He attempted to correct the error and that sent his Toro into a spin. He hit the barriers hard, destroying the whole left-hand side of his car. The Toro Rosso driver was quickly on the radio to confirm he was unhurt and to apologise for aRead More

By FIA Ferrari completed a clean sweep of practice session one-twos at the Sakhir Circuit, with Charles Leclerc running quickest in the final hour of practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Monegasque driver set a best time of 1:29.569 on the soft compound Pirelli tyres with a little under 20 minutes left in the session. He was immediately followed on track by team-mate Sebastian Vettel who slotted into P2 0.169s behind. The pace left all of their rivals in the shade, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton eventually becoming the Scuderia’sRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton went quickest in the final practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, almosgt three tenths of a second ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen, whose team-mate Sebastian Vettel finished third. Ferrari set the pace early in the session with the Italian squad’s driver the only likely front runner to take to the track in the opening phase of the session. Räikkönen held sway initially with a time of 1:39.314 but Vettel took over at the top a third of the way through the session, beating hisRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time of the final practice session for the United States Grand Prix, outpacing Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen by less than a tenth of a second as championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished third. On Friday, Vettel’s hopes of maintain a fragile title challenge were hit when he incurred a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently during a red flag period, but he bounced back this morning as F1’s teams finally got some dry running at the Circuit of the Americas. Ferrari focusedRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton made it a clean sweep in practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, taking top spot in FP3 at Suzuka, just over a tenth of a second ahead of Sebastian Vettel, in a session brought to an early end when Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg crashed out. Hulkenberg, sweeping through the Esses on a qualifying run, took much kerb on a track still damp from an earlier rain show and spun. He went into the barriers on the right-hand side of the track, causing substantial damage to the rearRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel headed a Ferrari one-two in final practice for the Singapore Grand Prix as the Italian squad pulled away from the chasing pack at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Vettel qualifying simulation, coming 25 minutes before the end of the session, delivered a blistering lap of 1:38.054. Team-mate Kimi Räikkönen then took second place, three tenths off the German’s pace. Mercedes could not get close to the Scuderia’s pace on the hypersoft tyres. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton ended the session in third place, just over half aRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel continued to set the pace in final practice for the Italian Grand Prix, but the Ferrari driver was pushed hard by title rival Lewis Hamilton who finished just eight hundredths of a second behind the German. Ferrari were quickly to the fore in the hour-long session, with Kimi Räikkönen setting the early pace with a time of 1:21.399. Vettel might have challenged that but he suffered a lock up in Turn 1 and was forced to abandon the attempt. He lapped again and set a timeRead More

By FIA Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel edged Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas to top the final practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, but there were spins for both Bottas and team-mate Lewis Hamilton during an up and down session for Mercedes at the Hungaroring. On Friday the Silver Arrows almost a second of Vettel’s pace on ultrasoft tyres and while Bottas got to within a tenth of a second of the German in FP3’s qualifying simulations, both Mercedes drivers struggled for grip, with Hamilton at one stage suggesting that he couldn’t competeRead More

By FIA Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen made it a clean sweep of practice sessions in Montreal, edging Sebastian Vettel by just under five hundredths of a second, with the German’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen two thousandths of a second further back. Verstappen, who had beaten Räikkönen by a tenth of a second in yesterday’s second practice session after pipping Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on Friday morning, jumped to the top of the final practice time sheet with 13 minutes to go. The Dutchman, who had run ultrasoft tyres early in the session,Read More

By FIA Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton continued to set the pace in Barcelona, topping the timesheet in final practice ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, as Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley brought he session to an early end with a heavy crash. With only a few minutes remaining in the session, Hartley got on the dirt beyond the kerb on the entry to the fast Turn 9 and his Toro Rosso immediately swapped end, sending him backwards across the gravel trap and hard into the barriers. While Hartley reportedRead More