FP3 GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY : BOTTAS LEADS

On Friday we had a dry and a wet free practice. In the second practice we didn’t drive much compared to the first one. Again it looks like Mercedes is the strongest team this weekend and Racing Point also looks very strong.

Valtteri Bottas topped the final practise session before qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Finn beat his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.

With dark clouds above the Hungaroring, but with a dry track, the third and final free practice started at 11:00.

Kimi Raikkonen was the first driver to set a time. He drove a 1:19,136.
After 20 minutes Max Verstappen set his first time on the clock and immediately went fastest. He didn’t stay at the top for long, because the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas went quicker.

The Ferrari’s also seemed to show some nice spead. Early in the session they were in second and fifth place.

Rank	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
01	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:15.437	18
02	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:15.479	20
03	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	1:15.598	16
04	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:15.781	19
05	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	1:16.033	15
06	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:16.084	18
07	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:16.193	18
08	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:16.351	18
09	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1:16.453	20
10	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	1:16.508	14
11	Carlos Sainz	McLaren	1:16.545	21
12	Alex Albon	Red Bull	1:16.582	19
13	Esteban Ocon	Renault	1:16.706	20
14	George Russell	Williams	1:16.847	23
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:16.866	15
16	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:17.086	14
17	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri	1:17.292	15
18	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1:17.496	20
19	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1:17.527	25
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1:17.650	17

A lot of smoke came from the exhausts of the Mercedes, but times didn’t slow down. Hamilton went fastest with ease. Bottas also has a lot of smoke at the back of the car, but keeps driving very fast.

Halfway through practice Alexander Albon complained about vibration in his Red Bull Racing RB16. The Thai continued to drive laps and even improves his fastest time. With half an hour to go he was one place below his team mate.

Verstappen spun during a fast lap. The Dutchman was improving his time but lost control of his RB16 in turn 12. He was able to continue on his way without damage.

Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll were also going very fast again. With 20 minutes left on the clock, both drivers were in third and fifth place respectively within a second of Hamilton’s fastest time. Charles Leclerc split the two Racing Points.

For the first time this season Ferrari seemed to show real speed on a dry track. Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel both competed for the fastest time with just over a quarter of an hour to go.

There was a bit of optimism for Williams who saw George Russell sit P7 at one point after the Brit put in a monstrous lap.

But ultimately it was Valtteri Bottas who took top spot in the final session before qualifying. The Finn’s time of 1:15.437 was enough to beat Lewis Hamilton by 0.042 seconds with Perez further back in P3. With the World Championship looking a straight shoot out between Mercedes, pole could be vital for victory when qualifying takes place later today.

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FP3 GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY : BOTTAS LEADS FP3 GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY : BOTTAS LEADS