Belgium – Free Practice 3: Vettel confirms before qualifying
The Scuderia once again demonstrated their superior pace during the latest practice session. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen are close, but Lewis Hamilton remains lurking. Further back, Valtteri Bottas made a mistake due to inattention that nearly cost Stoffel Vandoorne dearly after the Raidillon. More fear than harm.
The weather is unpredictable this afternoon as we approach the final practice session. On the Belgian track, the climate is closer to what one might find during winter testing in Barcelona, with a few drops even felt in the middle of the morning. The sun makes a few rare appearances at the start of the session.
It's a bit chilly #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/f00hQqcp6Y
— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 août 2018
At the green light, Marcus Ericsson appears at the end of the pit lane, followed by Romain Grosjean. An initial group of eight drivers is now on track to complete a first installation lap. Only the McLaren drivers stay on track for a first timed lap, at least for Alonso, as Vandoorne is already playing the role of slipstream provider up the Kemel straight.
The Spaniard sets an initial marker at 1:47.202, while Max Verstappen has completed an installation lap and Nico Hülkenberg begins his first attempt. He completes his lap with a modest time of 1:50.159 as the Ferraris take to the track. Kimi Räikkönen quickly posts a more significant time of 1:43.425, seven hundredths off his best time from yesterday afternoon.
The Renault driver plays the spoiler this afternoon, after having blocked Sebastian Vettel during his first attempt, the German more extensively blocks Kimi Räikkönen throughout the entirety of the third sector. At Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas is the first to take to the track, positioning himself with a third time, 517 milliseconds behind Räikkönen and 73 milliseconds behind Vettel.
Lewis Hamilton’s charge onto the track makes the stopwatch tremble. He sets the record in the first and then the second sector but loses all the gains in the final sector. His time of 1:43.523 is ultimately a tenth behind Kimi Räikkönen’s time.
Hamilton gets to within about a tenth of Räikkönen, but it is still Ferrari leading the way. Hamilton was on softs, Kimi on supers
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#SkyF1 #F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/B74cyUMVIJ— Sky Sports F1 🏎 (@SkySportsF1) 25 août 2018
Midway through the session, all the drivers have finally completed at least one timed lap, with Max Verstappen being the last to appear on the timesheet, ranking 5th, five-tenths behind Sebastian Vettel.
Ranking: Räikkönen, Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Pérez, Ocon, Leclerc, Grosjean, Ericsson, Magnussen, Gasly, Hartley, Sainz, Stroll, Sirotkin, Alonso, Vandoorne, Hülkenberg.
After about ten calmer minutes, Räikkönen and Vettel get back to business, followed by Hamilton. The Finn improves his time to go under one minute 43 with a 1:42.734, Vettel is a whisker behind with a delay of 33 thousandths. The Briton is just as close, 31 thousandths behind the German.
During a second attempt, Räikkönen managed to improve with a 1:42.724, but Vettel did better with a 1:42.661. Hamilton, however, did not improve.
As the McLarens were back on track to climb out of the bottom of the standings, Stoffel Vandoorne was squeezed off the track limits at the start of the Kemel straight. The Belgian lost control of his car on the grass but miraculously managed to stop without damaging it. On the radio, he expressed his displeasure towards Valtteri Bottas, who maneuvered without seeing what was coming from behind. Race control interrupted the session with a red flag.
📻 VAN: “What the hell was that Mercedes doing?! He (Bottas) just pushed me onto the grass” #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/3ERr4kRHnX
— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 août 2018
The session restarts with less than three minutes remaining. Right at the entrance of the track, Pierre Gasly gives the spectators a show with a 180°. The drivers are back on track to complete a lap. Leclerc, Ericsson, Verstappen, Ricciardo, and Hülkenberg were fast enough to make one last timed attempt.
The final ranking at the end of the session:
FP3 CLASSIFICATION: @ScuderiaFerrari have been fastest in all three practice sessions 💪#BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/yFolpFlypN
— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 août 2018
From our special correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps
