Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas took a sweep at FP3 of the Tuscan Grand Prix after recording the fastest lap during the third and the final practice ahead of qualifying later in the day. The finnish driver recorded 1m16.530s topping the final practice session.
Redbull’s Max Verstappen came 2nd as he followed closely to Bottas with only 0.017 seconds denying him the fastest lap in the session, with Mercedes sister car steered by Lewis Hamilton coming third just 0.083 seconds behind Verstappen’s RB 16. The conditions at the Ferrari owned track, Mugello circuit were warm and sunny as the Formula 1 cars set to the circuit.
Lewis Hamilton looked ready to beat his teammate when he led on the first time split, only to fall back in the second and third sectors.Redbull’s Max Verstappen then went out for one last run late in the session on the red walled soft tyres and split the two Mercedes in an encouraging sign for Red Bull on a circuit which has very fast corners.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll did an impressive job as he came in fourth registering 1m17.112s as AlphaTauri Monza winner Pierre Gasly came in fifth, however he had experienced a moment when he oversteered through the Scarperia-Palagio chicane third sector of the track.
Sergio Perez(Racing Point) was sixth as he was closely Followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as Alexander Albon came in eighth which was a job well done as he had moved from 18th position in the previous lap, however he ran wide through the exit of Correntaio catching dust and grass but he was able to recover his RB16.
Daniil Kvyat was the second AlphaTauri coming 9th as Haas Romain Grosjean rounded up the top ten even after missing much of FP3 due to a technical issue.
Both Renaults driven by Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo finishing 11th and 17th respectively. Mclaren also did not have a good session as Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris were P12 and P19 respectively.
Sebastian Vettel(Ferrari) finished P18 as Williams George Russel recorded no time as he suffered a suspected brake by wire failure and reporting on the radio that his pedal went “completely to the floor” on his installation lap, which was the only tour he managed in the session as a result of the issue.
