Practice 3 Report - Only Charles

By Dan Knutson

Charles Leclerc was the only driver to clock a time below the one minute 33 second level as the Ferrari driver topped Free Practice 3 in Russia.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel and Leclerc; Red Bull TAG Heuer – Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon; Renault – Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg; Haas Ferrari – Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; McLaren Renault – Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris; Racing Point Mercedes – Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll; Alfa Romeo Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi; Toro Rosso Honda – Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly; Williams Mercedes – George Russell and Robert Kubica.

Verstappen was fastest on Friday with a time of 1:33.162.

“We followed our own program,” he said after FP2, “and tried quite a few things set-up wise and got a good balance, especially in the last sector but even the first sector with the long straight looked competitive. When you have a good feeling with the car it comes alive in the last sector which is really nice after the strange weekend we had in Singapore.”

The big news in Russia on Saturday morning was that McLaren will switch to Mercedes engines in 2021 after using Renault power units since 2018.

The other story is that Red Bull wants to change the name of Toro Rosso in 2020 to AlphaTauri, a Red Bull clothing brand.

It had rained overnight, but the track was dry enough for the drivers to head out on slicks.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 60-minute session was 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Centigrade).

Albon was the only driver to clock a time in the early going – a 1:35.950.

Kvyat would not be setting any lap times after stopping out on the track. “Engine, engine, engine problem” he radioed.

Just over 20 minutes had gone by when Leclerc took the lead with a lap of 1:33.906. Vettel was second, 0.609 of a second slower.

Halfway through FP3 Hamilton was fifth, but 1.1 seconds slower than Leclerc. “No way we will find that time,” Hamilton radioed. But his teammate Bottas climbed to second place, 0.171 seconds slower than Leclerc. Hamilton did improve to get within 0.412 of a second of the Ferrari driver.

Leclerc, Bottas, Verstappen, Hamilton, Vettel, Hulkenberg, Gasly and Ricciardo were the top eight with 20 minutes remaining in the session. All had used Pirelli’s soft compound tires except Verstappen who had set his time on the mediums.

Most of the drivers were now in the pits as their teams prepared for the qualifying simulations.

Vettel popped to the top with a lap of 1:33.304 on his run, only to have Leclerc beat him with a 1:32.861.

Bottas tried a fast lap but ended up 0.493 of a second slower than Leclerc. Hamilton’s lap of 1:33.129 put him up to second behind Leclerc who had improved to 1:32.733.

After a couple of cooldown laps, Vettel improved to 1:33.049.

Meanwhile, there was news from the garages as Honda tweeted: “We can confirm Dany pulling over was due to a power unit issue. We'll be fitting a brand new Spec 4 PU to be best prepared for tomorrow’s race.”

Outside of the top four of Leclerc, Vettel, Hamilton and Bottas, the order was Verstappen, Grosjean, Norris and Magnussen with seven minutes remaining.

But several drivers were putting in their fast laps in the final minutes. Verstappen had a spin and tapped the barriers with his rear wing. He headed back to the pits.

The top 10 at the end of FP3 were: Leclerc, Vettel, Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Grosjean, Albon, Hulkenberg, Norris and Magnussen.