F1 PORTUGUESE FINAL PRACTICE BOTTAS LEADS

Full final practice results for the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Circuit, round 12 of the 2020 F1 world championship season.

F1 Portuguese final practice : Valtteri Bottas topped the third practice session ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix, which was was red flagged just before its scheduled conclusion.

The Mercedes driver moved to the top of the times with 24 minutes remaining in FP3, and he held onto the position when the expected improvements from the final runs didn’t come.

Just as the session was winding down, the red flags were shown due to a loose drain on the exit of Turn 14 towards the end of the lap, which was run over by Sebastian Vettel.

Several drivers asked their engineers why they weren’t going faster, with Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen among those told that the lack of improvements were probably down to the wind.

2020 F1 PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (3)

POS	DRIVER	NAT.	TEAM	TIME
1	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1m 16.654
2	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1m 16.680
3	Max Verstappen	NED	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	1m 16.812
4	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	1m 16.930
5	Alexander Albon	THA	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	1m 17.117
6	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1m 17.229
7	Carlos Sainz	SPA	McLaren F1 Team	1m 17.238
8	Sergio Perez	MEX	BWT Racing Point F1 Team	1m 17.297
9	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1m 17.478
10	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Renault F1 Team	1m 17.666
11	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Scuderia Ferrari	1m 17.685
12	Daniil Kvyat	RUS	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	1m 17.720
13	Kimi Raikkonen	FIN	Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen	1m 17.922
14	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Renault F1 Team	1m 17.935
15	George Russell	GBR	Williams Racing	1m 18.032
16	Lance Stroll	CAN	BWT Racing Point F1 Team	1m 18.100
17	Antonio Giovinazzi	ITA	Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen	1m 18.201
18	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas F1 Team	1m 18.287
19	Nicholas Latifi	CAN	Williams Racing	1m 18.397
20	Romain Grosjean	FRA	Haas F1 Team	1m 18.554

Verstappen, who had a lap time deleted for track limits that would have put him second in the session, said “it must be a hurricane then!”.

Lewis Hamilton was second to his Mercedes team-mate Bottas, just 0.026 seconds slower, while Verstappen’s deleted lap would have put the Red Bull just 0.005s behind the Finn.

Hamilton had a low-speed trip through the gravel at Turn 8 around the same time Bottas went quickest.

Verstappen’s best lap that stayed within track limits was only 0.156s slower than Bottas to put him third, while ex-Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly was next up for AlphaTauri, using a new chassis after his fire on Friday.

That put the Frenchman ahead of under-pressure Red Bull driver Alex Albon who was fifth, and the only other driver inside half a second of Bottas’s pace.

Charles Leclerc, was sixth-fastest, and towards the end of the session he reported a bizarre incident of being able to hear Lewis Hamilton’s team radio through his own system.

Carlos Sainz Jr, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon completed the top 10.

Vettel was just outside the top 10 in 11th, while Daniel Ricciardo was only 14th for Renault after suffering a DRS failure late in the session.

However, with so few improvements in the final part of the session, it’s unlikely Ricciardo would have made a big leap up the order with a clean end to the session.

F1 PORTUGUESE FINAL PRACTICE BOTTAS LEADS SESSION FROM HAMILTON F1 PORTUGUESE FINAL PRACTICE BOTTAS LEADS SESSION FROM HAMILTON

YOU WILL LIKE

WOLFF ABOUT RUSSELL SITITUATION : “IN THE END IT’S WILLIAMS’S DECISION”

HAMILTON : PORTIMAO IS AN “INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT”

RICCIARDO AND RENAULT WILL NOT BE PENALISED

F1 PORTUGUESE : POLICING TRACK LIMITS – 125 LAPS DELETED IN FRIDAY PRACTICE

VERSTAPPEN AND STROLL WILL NOT RECEIVE A GRID PENALTY

SIMON ROBERTS REFUSED TO CONFIRM THAT RUSSELL WILL REMAIN IN 2021

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE F1 NEWS VIA Facebook AND Twitter