Spain – Free Practice 3: Hamilton leads, Bottas blunders!
Lewis Hamilton wins at the end of the third free practice session, outclassing Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, his closest pursuer, by more than half a second! The session was notably marked by Valtteri Bottas and his spin in the gravel trap.
The last free practice session in Barcelona took place under a dark sky and cooler temperatures, with 21 degrees in the air and 28 degrees on the track. This made the track more challenging for the drivers to control, as they experienced several scares with the grip.
Among them, Valtteri Bottas! During a slow lap, the current leader of the world championship spun in the fifth corner at the beginning of the session. He ended up in the gravel trap. Stuck, the Finn had to get out of his car, which was later brought back to the pit box without apparent damage, allowing him to return to the track at the end of the session.
Also, this practice session was marked by a second red flag, this time at the very end of the session. The reason was George Russell, who also made an error with his Williams, at the exit of the ninth corner. The Briton was less fortunate than Bottas as he damaged the rear of his car, coming to a stop in reverse against the wall.
Regarding the timing, after doing the hardest part to position himself in front during his final stint, Charles Leclerc had to concede first place to Lewis Hamilton following a fast lap completed in 1:16.568. An impressive time, with the Monegasque being relegated to five-tenths of a second behind. Behind Leclerc were Bottas and Sebastian Vettel in fourth place, but within the same tenth as his teammate. The German encountered difficulties with the functioning of his tires.
On his side, Romain Grosjean dominated the session in the middle of the pack, securing 5th place, three-tenths ahead of his teammate Kevin Magnussen, who finished 6th. A result achieved partly thanks to the upgrades made to his car this weekend!
Despite Daniel Ricciardo’s reassuring remarks after FP2, Renault, on the other hand, failed to turn the tide, with the Australian being credited with the 17th fastest time, two seconds and four-tenths behind Hamilton!
Here is the final ranking of this third free practice session:
FP3 CLASSIFICATION: A big statement from @LewisHamilton ahead of qualifying #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/7g98AThKhK
— Formula 1 (@F1) 11 mai 2019
Now, it’s time for the qualifying sessions scheduled at 3:10 PM: we will still have to deal with challenging weather, with perhaps a few drops of rain!
From our special correspondent in Barcelona (Montmelo)
