Portuguese Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Bottas is the fastest again!

With 18 degrees in the air and 22 degrees on the ground, the drivers found themselves on a track that they know very little this Saturday afternoon.

For this third and final practice session of the weekend, it was Valtteri Bottas who was the first driver to set a time of 1:17.888, the fastest of the weekend at that moment. The six-time world champion quickly reclaimed the lead with 1:16.680 on soft tires.

Note that Max Verstappen had to wait in his garage before being able to take part in this third free practice session. Following his collision with Lance Stroll, his mechanics had to work on the car at the start of the session.

So far, so quiet on track ????

Busy garages tho’ ⚙️????#PortugueseGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/nMFrjxAWpE

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 24, 2020

A less slippery track and a relaxation of the rules

Unlike the previous day, the track proves to be less slippery than during the first two practice sessions. The drivers take advantage of this to improve their times from the day before.

The race management has reversed its decision regarding track limits monitoring, which has greatly contributed to these improvements.

Despite this change, some drivers are still in violation by exceeding track limits at turn 1. Russell was reprimanded, Grosjean and Giovinazzi also had their times canceled.

Gasly performs

After causing a red flag in FP2 due to an engine issue, the Frenchman managed to bounce back during this session to seize fourth place with a time of 1:16.930.

A red flag will bring the session to an end one minute before the finish following the tearing off of a water drainage grate.

It is ultimately Valtteri Bottas who dominates the session by setting a benchmark time of 1:16.654. He leads his garage neighbor, Lewis Hamilton, as well as Max Verstappen with a time of 1:16.812.

Mercedes drivers once again dominated the free practice sessions, but the battle should be intense to determine who will start from pole tomorrow afternoon.

Complete standings of this FP3: