Brazil – Free Practice 3: Sebastian Vettel breaks the track record!
Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in this third free practice session, with a bonus track record. He outpaced the two Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, positioning himself as the favorite for qualifying in a few hours.
Once again, the Pirelli tires and their degradation are at the heart of the concerns for teams and their drivers during these Brazilian Grand Prix tests.
The blistering phenomenon appeared on the softest tires, the Super Softs with red stripes, after just a few laps. This did not prevent the two Ferrari drivers from going out very early in this third session to set the two best times using this compound, with Sebastian Vettel half a second ahead of Kimi Räikkönen.
On the other hand, for Lewis Hamilton, the session starts in a rather worrying manner as the British driver is quickly recalled to his pit by his team during his out lap. He has to return at a slow pace for his car to be examined by his mechanics. Like their counterparts at Ferrari, they block the visibility of the television cameras to conceal the work on car number 44.
Absolutely nothing to see here… nada… zilch… 😉 #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ADekQ0vRu8
— Formula 1 (@F1) 10 novembre 2018
Meanwhile, his teammate Valtteri Bottas continues his program on Super Softs and takes 2nd place in the provisional standings less than 0.3 seconds behind. He thus surpasses his compatriot Räikkönen and an impressive Charles Leclerc who placed his Sauber less than a second off Vettel’s best time.
Good news in the Mercedes camp as Lewis Hamilton returns to the track and sets the second-fastest time. A simple issue with a loose ventilation hose on his car was the cause of this minor concern.
With 20 minutes left in the session, the Ferraris return to the track, and Sebastian Vettel, still on Super Soft tires, sets a circuit record with 1:07.948. The Ferraris are increasingly positioning themselves as favorites this weekend, at least for the qualifying session.
#Seb5 scores 1:07.948 P1 #FP3 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/HloYHyIQ81
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) 10 novembre 2018
The top speed and the drafting phenomenon in the first and third sectors will be of vital importance this weekend. In this game, the Ferraris are in their element as Vettel and Räikkönen hold the two best top speeds of this session. And since they are particularly well-balanced in the second, more winding sector, where the Red Bulls also make an impression, the red cars are therefore very fast.
SPEED TRAP: @ScuderiaFerrari power has the edge right now #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/RATXhP7jwO
— Formula 1 (@F1) 10 novembre 2018
Despite the repeated efforts of Bottas and Hamilton, Vettel’s time is untouchable! The Briton falls short by more than two-tenths behind the German despite a record in the second sector.
At the bottom of the rankings, the McLarens are drinking the bitter cup to the last drop. Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne bring up the rear, trailing by 2.5 seconds and 2.8 seconds, respectively. They are narrowly beaten by the Force India cars of Sergio Pérez, in 18th place, and Esteban Ocon, in 15th place, who are not having much fun either. Additionally, the French driver will face a 5-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.
Both cars have returned to the garage for now, while the crews work on the setup. They’ll be back out shortly for the final minutes of FP3. #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/tVLr4fPE1w
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) 10 novembre 2018
There are many people on track for the last minutes of the session before qualifying. Kimi Räikkönen is hindered in the traffic during his fast lap, just like his compatriot Valtteri Bottas.
Victim of going off track yesterday, Nico Hülkenberg places his Renault in 11th position while his teammate Carlos Sainz is only 14th. The Renaults are struggling on this track contrary to the Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean who are in 7th and 8th positions, lurking behind the Red Bulls.
The session concludes with Sebastian Vettel setting the fastest time ahead of the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
The complete standings of FP3:
FP3 CLASSIFICATION: Vettel has the edge heading into qualifying #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/FzjlbYjWfA
— Formula 1 (@F1) 10 novembre 2018
