Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen led the way in F1 Portuguese GP FP3 from Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in slippery conditions.
It was cloudy and windy FP3 session in F1 Portuguese GP, where grip issues prevailed from Friday as drivers fought through the slippery conditions. The track limits continued to haunt them, with additional Turn 14 being put in place by Michael Masi.
The revised FIA Race Directors’ note stated: Turn 14 – Exit:
a) The track limits at the exit of Turn 14 are defined as when no part of the car remains in contact with the red and white kerb.
In the cases of 21.5 and 21.6 above the drivers are reminded of the provisions of Article 27.3 of the Sporting Regulations and specifically the following:
a) Drivers must make every reasonable effort to use the track at all times and may not leave the track without a justifiable reason.
b) Should a car leave the track the driver may re-join, however, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any lasting advantage. At the absolute discretion of the Race Director a driver may be given the opportunity to give back the whole of any advantage he gained by leaving the track.
It didn’t hurt as much as the other corners under the scanner. as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m18.489s) led the way in F1 Portuguese GP FP3 session from the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton (1m18.725s) and Valtteri Bottas (1m18.820s).
The other Red Bull of Sergio Perez (1m18.840s) was fourth as the Top 4 struggled to eke out a clean lap with the grip issue. Alpine looked solid with Esteban Ocon (1m18.860s) in fifth from Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc (1m19.001s) and Carlos Sainz (1m19.050s).
McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m19.272s) slotted in eighth after a spin for him, as the Top 10 was rounded out by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m19.374s) and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen (1m19.415s). The Finn had a spectacular 360 spin as well, but managed it well.
The other AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda improved from Friday to be 11th, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo 12th ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Anotnio Giovinazzi, as Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was 14th after his quick lap time was deleted due to track limits.
The Spaniard’s time set was on the medium compound just like the Aston Martin duo of Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel, who ended up 16th and 18th. They had Haas’ Mick Schumacher in 15th and Williams’ George Russell in 17th in between.
The Top 20 runners was rounded out by Haas’ Nikita Mazepin and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, where the Russian had an off moment in the gravel.
It's looking very close 👀@Max33Verstappen tops the final practice session, with the @MercedesAMGF1 drivers in P2 and P3 👊#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/zPH0WoZ4MA
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 1, 2021
Here’s what everyone said after Friday in F1 Portuguese GP