French Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Verstappen torpedoes the competition

Beginning of the session: waiting, waiting…

The drivers are slow to take to the track: no single-seater car has come out after 5 minutes of the session. The spectators better not have been impatient!

The confrontation between Red Bull and Mercedes was going to become clearer in this preparatory session for the qualifications.

It took 10 minutes before the first car took to the track: Nikita Mazepin! The Russian driver was immediately joined by his teammate Mick Schumacher. The two Haas cars made their debut.

The rest of the grid did not seem rushed. Meanwhile, the first two lap times have been set: 1:34:966 for Mazepin, followed by Schumacher in 1:35:296. The Alpines left the pits in the order Ocon-Alonso.

Sergio Pérez also took to the track on soft tires. The Mexican, crowned with his victory in Baku, has to work on his qualifying pace. He certainly worked on it, despite a time of 1:33:775, immediately beaten by Esteban Ocon in 1:33:707. The other Alpine, driven by Fernando Alonso, clocked a 1:33:206, far ahead of his French teammate.

First setback for Nikita Mazepin, who spun in the first sector. A trip into the red stripes that would have taken its toll on his tires, also red.

38 minutes before the end of these free practice sessions, the Mercedes and Aston Martin cars have left the pits, followed like their shadows by the championship leader, Max Verstappen.

The tenors take action.

Lewis Hamilton, equipped with Valtteri Bottas‘s chassis, clocks a 1:33:206, beaten by Bottas by a wide margin: 1:32:346, more than 8 tenths apart! Verstappen took the lead with a time of 1:32:337. Verstappen is in good shape!

An interesting 4th place finish for Fernando Alonso gives some hope for the French team. While Ferrari has been relatively discreet, with Charles Leclerc in 5th place, more than 8 tenths behind, and Carlos Sainz in 8th place, more than a second behind.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas tangled at the stopwatch: Bottas was ahead in Sector 1, but Verstappen completed his lap, immediately canceled after running wide in Sainte-Baume. Bottas regained the lead in 1:32:309.

28 thousandths ahead of the leader of the general classification.

The French drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon performed well, with Gasly in 4th place less than a second behind the leader, and Ocon in 10th place a little further back compared to Alonso’s Alpine n°14.

The last 20 minutes

Lewis Hamilton, in a distant 3rd place, has chosen to get back on track, like Bottas. The seven-time world champion, on new tires, falls short by 2 tenths of Bottas, improving his time to 1:32:047. A small alarm for Red Bull, whose standard bearer has relaunched the attack on the clock, with a quarter of an hour left in FP3.

Daniel Ricciardo has now moved up to 4th place! Very interesting time for the Australian, struggling for performance on his McLaren at the beginning of the season.

Sainz and Pérez have emerged: the Spaniard of Ferrari moved up to 2nd, the Mexican of Red Bull to 3rd! Very surprising! But Max Verstappen chose to set the record straight: 1:31:300! A huge gap over Bottas, trailing by 7 tenths…a big slap.

The Alpines have organized themselves in a tight group, in 7th and 8th place, only separated by 6 hundredths. The blue cars are performing well at Le Castellet, and that’s great to see!

Lewis Hamilton didn’t seem to find the solution, as he failed to improve his time…it would be better though, as being 9 tenths behind Verstappen is not reassuring at all!

The Paul Ricard track was quite congested: nearly everyone on track, while 7 minutes separated the drivers from the end of the session.

This is not important information for Aston Martin, since the two cars remained in the garage. The Greens are struggling at Paul Ricard, but it was expected.

The session came to an end in a certain calm. Max Verstappen dealt a big blow to the Mercedes team.

Hopefully still expecting a closer contest between the two title-contending teams!

The results of Free Practice 3 this Saturday, June 19, 2021