Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton topped FP3 of F1 Abu Dhabi GP with teammate Valtteri Bottas third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
It was lot of work at the Red Bull camp throughout the FP3 of F1 Abu Dhabi GP especially on the rear wing of their cars. It wasn’t the cleanest run for either them or Mercedes with minor offs on their fast laps with tension getting the best to extract the maximum.
It was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton leading FP3 of F1 Abu Dhabi GP with a 1m23.274s lap as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m23.488s) slotted in between him and Valtteri Bottas (1m24.025s) then. All the three drivers faced lock-ups and twitchy moments.
A late quick lap from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (1m24.047s) put him in fourth with McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m24.106s) bouncing well in FP3 to be fifth from the AlphaTauri pair of Yuki Tsunoda (1m24.233s) and Pierre Gasly (1m24.595s).
There was a moment for both Norris and Gasly in the session, with the Frenchman also having a moment in the pitlane. The duo led Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (1m24.595s) with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m24.733s) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m24.758s) in Top 10.
Both the Ferrari drivers and Ricciardo set their best time on the medium tyres inside the Top 10. Having looked good on Friday, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was 12th behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with Alfa Romeo pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.
Even Ocon had his best time on the medium tyres like his teammate Fernando Alonso who was 15th from Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. The Williams pair of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi slotted in 17th and 18th ahead of the Haas pair.
It was Mick Schumacher ahead of Nikita Mazepin with the latter having a moment with Hamilton earlier in the session but it was harmless.
FP3 CLASSIFICATION (60/60 mins)
Just 0.214s separate Hamilton and Verstappen heading into qualifying 👀
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Here’s what was said on Friday of F1 Abu Dhabi GP