United States – Free Practice 3: Verstappen takes the place vacated by Mercedes

It’s still under the sun that the weekend continued in the early hours of the day in the United States. (10 a.m. local time for the start of this third session)

In the paddock, a piece of news caught everyone off guard: Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniil Kvyat will keep their seats at Toro Rosso for the 2017 season. For the Spaniard, this confirmation was logical; for the Russian, the information is certainly a relief, as the rumors of the Frenchman Pierre Gasly’s arrival were becoming insistent.

In any case, the 22 drivers were getting into their respective single-seaters at the same time for the last practice session of this United States Grand Prix.

Another new flag raised!

As yesterday, the Haas cars were the quickest to take to the track. Far from all that, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg only reached the garage when the green light for this FP3 came on. The three-time world champion was even looking after the luxury guests of the Star brand.

Morning @LewisHamilton!

Time for a quick steering wheel tutorial with Hollywood actor Christophe Waltz!#F1 #USGP #FP3 pic.twitter.com/N7iqn9UmDl

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 22 octobre 2016

Conversely, their closest opponents were on track from the first few minutes. The two Red Bull drivers set the initial lap times (on medium tires) while studying the airflow exiting the RB12 using fluorescent paint.

At the sister team, Carlos Sainz suffered a puncture in the fast corners of the first sector, forcing him to cut short his first stint of the day.

The quarter-hour of the session had passed, and it was the moment Kimi Räikkönen chose the soft tires… and took the provisional best time. But the time was disappointing: 1:38.512, only four-tenths ahead of Verstappen on mediums.

In the aftermath, the first red flag was raised. Pascal Wehrlein went off at the same spot as “Iceman” did yesterday during practice, in turn nineteen. But this time, the Manor driver was immobilized in the gravel, the floor resting in the sand. The replays highlighted an unusual exchange between the German and his race engineer, who was ordering him to cut off his engine.

RED FLAG: Wehrlein has beached his Manor in the gravel #USGP 🇺🇸 #FP3 pic.twitter.com/4ucm0gku6w

— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 octobre /f1/actualite/21454-officiel-kvyat-confirme-chez-toro-rosso-pour-2017.html

A few minutes later, the wild beasts were unleashed: time for the Mercedes drivers to finally hit the Texas tarmac.

But Hamilton and Rosberg remained on soft tires at that moment, just past the halfway point of the session. Vettel, then Rosberg and Ricciardo successively improved the time, with both the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers on super-soft tires. With a time of 1:37.032, the Australian pushed the Ferrari back by more than eight-tenths, a sign of the performance of the car designed by Adrian Newey.

In terms of car reliability, Jenson Button reported some issues at the rear of his car, echoing an observation already made yesterday in Austin. And once again, Carlos Sainz was forced to throw away a new set of tires, with another puncture, this time on the left rear! Clearly, something is not right at the rear of the Spaniard’s Toro Rosso…

Carlos Sainz, slow down. Left rear tire puncture.😂#FP3 #USGP #f1jp pic.twitter.com/GhzEVjvmXt

— YUsan Racing Service (@stardast_boy) 22 octobre /f1/actualite/21454-officiel-kvyat-confirme-chez-toro-rosso-pour-2017.html

On the other hand, everything continued to work for Red Bull as the final quarter-hour of the session began. It was Max Verstappen’s turn to join the fray by taking the lead in the standings with a time of 1:36.766, still on super-softs. The Mercedes team continued to keep a low profile by not yet using the fastest tires.

Last aborted attempts for Rosberg and Hamilton.

All the drivers were focused on completing convincing final laps in this FP3, despite very heavy traffic in the last 10 minutes, which caused some issues, especially between Ricciardo and Räikkönen. Sebastian Vettel remained in the pits during those final minutes due to gearbox problems.

Ricciardo vs Kimi…

Wait, it’s not Sunday yet 😅 #FP3 #USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Ss9kmvqg23

— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 octobre /f1/actualite/21454-officiel-kvyat-confirme-chez-toro-rosso-pour-2017.html

The moment had finally come for Nico Rosberg to put on those red-banded tires in a Qualifying simulation that was to follow. But surprisingly, the championship leader lifted off in the second sector and returned to the pits.

His teammate was on track with the super-softs for a lap as a final rehearsal. But Felipe Nasr hindered Lewis Hamilton’s progress, who did not improve his personal best, with a time that was not very significant on soft tires.

Here is the final ranking of this third free practice session:

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF #FP3): A Red Bull 1-2 in final practice 💪 But we’re yet to see Mercedes’ true hand #USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/SLQqSYtE98

— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 octobre /f1/actualite/21454-officiel-kvyat-confirme-chez-toro-rosso-pour-2017.html

We now invite you to join us later at 9 p.m. for the summary of the qualifying session.