Vettel keeps himself on top in final free practice
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel kept himself ahead of the field in the Saturday morning’s dress rehearsal before the afternoon’s qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
With a lap in 1m16.170s, the German enjoyed an advantage of 0.059s over Mercedes Valtteri Bottas, with Kimi Raikkonen ending the session third.
Lewis Hamilton’s morning run to fourth overall was marked by a spin resulting from a very unstable handling Silver Arrows.
Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:16.170s
16
2
Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes
1:16.229s
+ 0.059s
17
3
Kimi Räikkönen
Ferrari
1:16.373s
+ 0.203s
16
4
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:16.749s
+ 0.579s
17
5
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
1:16.803s
+ 0.633s
11
6
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:16.946s
+ 0.776s
14
7
Carlos Sainz
Renault
1:17.754s
+ 1.584s
17
8
Nico Hülkenberg
Renault
1:18.083s
+ 1.913s
18
9
Romain Grosjean
Haas
1:18.084s
+ 1.914s
19
10
Pierre Gasly
Toro Rosso
1:18.139s
+ 1.969s
22
11
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:18.230s
+ 2.060s
17
12
Brendon Hartley
Toro Rosso
1:18.252s
+ 2.082s
19
13
Charles Leclerc
Sauber
1:18.376s
+ 2.206s
19
14
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
1:18.467s
+ 2.297s
15
15
Esteban Ocon
Force India
1:18.512s
+ 2.342s
20
16
Sergey Sirotkin
Williams
1:18.630s
+ 2.460s
17
17
Stoffel Vandoorne
McLaren
1:18.789s
+ 2.619s
14
18
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
1:18.842s
+ 2.672s
18
19
Sergio Pérez
Force India
1:18.962s
+ 2.792s
18
20
Lance Stroll
Williams
1:19.132s
+ 2.962s
20
The dominant theme in the Hungarian paddock was the news overnight of Force India going into administration. The Silverstone-based outfit was alive and well however on Saturday morning, and it was very much business as usual for the pink squad.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was the first driver to put a significant time on the board, the Finn clocking in with a 1m17.057s on ultrasofts that just edged Renault’s Carlos Sainz.
But the Iceman was demoted at the top by countryman Valtteri Bottas with a 1m16.986s that was almost immediately blow away by Sebastian Vettel who went 0.643s faster.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton appeared to struggle with his Silver Arrows, the Brit’s car looking uncharacteristically unstable around the Hungaroring’s twisty layout as he lined up fourth fastest.
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McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne certainly appeared a lot happier yesterday, after the team reverted to an older chassis, but the Belgian was stranded for much of the morning session, his mechanics replacing the floor on his MCL33.
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Among the low runners was also Daniel Ricciardo, although the Red Bull driver’s efforts were still good for a spot among the top five.
Impressions of Hamilton’s struggles from the outside were confirmed when the Mercedes driver spun at the chicane at the top of the hill,a mistake that did his ultrasoft tyres no good at all.
His more stable team mate hooked up a good lap to move once again at the top of the timesheet, but again the Finn was quickly surpassed by Vettel with a 1m16.170s lap that edged Bottas by 0.059s.
But soon after, Bottas replicated Hamilton’s loose move through the chicane, losing the rear upon entry and spinning in the outside barrier, fortunately lightly. Still, the contact would warrant a thorough check by the Mercedes crew.
With the exception of Verstappen moving ahead of his team mate in P5, the order remained unchanged among the front-runners.
Sainz was best of the rest in seventh, and led Haas’ Romain Grsojean, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen.
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