France – Free Practice 3: Bottas Ready to Spring a Surprise
At the end of this final practice session, the Mercedes once again prevailed more than 4 tenths ahead of the Ferraris. Bottas maintains a better pace compared to his teammate. Behind them are the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Gasly.
The French circuit is experiencing the same beautiful weather as yesterday, with 25°C in the air and 49°C on the ground, no rain in sight unlike last year during this final practice session. The Mercedes are well on their way to dominating, just like in the previous two practice sessions.
👀 Look at the track temp
🌡️🔥#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/EzUAHCocCU
— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 juin 2019
Lando Norris is the first to take to the track, with the McLarens having shown strong performances in Free Practice 2. Kvyat sets the first benchmark at 1:33.398, still far from yesterday’s times. After a quarter of an hour into the session, only three drivers have set a time.
Again, the drivers will have to manage their tires, most of them running on red compounds. Bottas exits his garage and sets a time of 1:31.383, with Hamilton just 0.3 seconds behind. The Ferraris are not far off. The red compound seems to be working better today on the scarlet cars. Leclerc, in fact, takes the best time with 1:31.118.
Halfway point (30/60 mins)
👀#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/EQP7jKFSH1
— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 juin 2019
Once again, the Williams team is in trouble, the season continues to be difficult for this team.
📻 “No power”@GeorgeRussell63 crawls back to the pits for repairs#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/WGnuUnBNHZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 juin 2019
A few minor off-track excursions, without any serious consequences, were noted from Verstappen, Ricciardo, and Hamilton in particular. Gasly struggled during these final tests at Le Castellet, however, he greatly improved by the end of the session and secured the 6th fastest time. Grosjean continues to face difficulties this weekend.
Bottas takes the best time from Leclerc with a 1:30:159. Hamilton finally places second, 41 thousandths behind his teammate. We see the same podium as yesterday.
🏁 END OF FP3 🏁
TOP 10
BOT
HAM
LEC
VET
VER 📸
GAS
NOR
RIC
SAI
RAI#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/VaIaMDHEIz— Formula 1 (@F1) 22 juin 2019
Join us this afternoon to see if Mercedes will continue their strong weekend by securing the front row of the Grand Prix this Sunday.
