Formula 1

Bottas leads Hamilton in final British GP practice

by Matt Beer
3 min read

Valtteri Bottas fended off Lewis Hamilton to emerge fastest as the Mercedes Formula 1 team moved into its usual 1-2 positions in final British Grand Prix practice.

The Mercedes drivers had a mostly private battle for the top spot at a cooler Silverstone on Saturday morning, although Max Verstappen did briefly get his Red Bull between them and ended up three tenths of a second off Bottas’s pace.

Hamilton had the initial advantage over Bottas, first with a 1m26.825s lap to Bottas’s 1m27.136s. The championship leader then stretched his margin by improving to a 1m26.568s that put him 0.568s clear of Bottas, who failed to improve on that run.

But Bottas grabbed first place from Hamilton with a 1m26.526s just before the halfway point.

Though Hamilton toppled that by putting in a 1m26.332s when the next runs began, Bottas then produced the 1m25.873s that would stand as the session’s best.

Hamilton went wide at Becketts on his first attempt to retaliate, and could only close to within 0.138s over the course of two further attempts.

Verstappen expressed misgivings over his Red Bull’s handling over the radio but ended up a clear third, while his team-mate Alex Albon had another fraught session.

Red Bull successfully completed a substantial car rebuild following his heavy Friday crash, and initially it fired up without drama. But an electrical problem then emerged and Albon spent the first 46 minutes in the garage.

His first flying lap was deleted for a track limits infringement at Copse, and he ended the session only 13th, having squeezed in nine laps.

Friday pacesetter Lance Stroll made a late leap to fourth. That was five places but only 0.296s ahead of his temporary Racing Point team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.

Motor Racing Formula One World Championship British Grand Prix Qualifying Day Silverstone, England

Carlos Sainz Jr and Lando Norris’s McLarens in fifth and seventh sandwiched the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Sebastian Vettel was down in 14th in the second Ferrari. He stuck to mediums initially while most ran softs, and was only 18th at first having run wide at the third turn. In the closing minutes he encountered a repeat of the pedal problem that had marred his Friday afternoon running.

Daniel Ricciardo rewarded Renault’s efforts in changing his chassis with eighth ahead of Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri – which had set strong times on mediums initially.

Gasly’s team-mate Daniil Kvyat was 11th but must take a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.

Practice 3 Results

Pos Name Car Best Time Gap Leader
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m25.873s
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m26.011s +0.138s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 1m26.173s +0.3s
4 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 1m26.576s +0.703s
5 Carlos Sainz McLaren-Renault 1m26.664s +0.791s
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m26.771s +0.898s
7 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1m26.798s +0.925s
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1m26.841s +0.968s
9 Nico Hülkenberg Racing Point-Mercedes 1m26.872s +0.999s
10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri-Honda 1m27.046s +1.173s
11 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri-Honda 1m27.076s +1.203s
12 Esteban Ocon Renault 1m27.158s +1.285s
13 Alex Albon Red Bull-Honda 1m27.178s +1.305s
14 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m27.251s +1.378s
15 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m27.537s +1.664s
16 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1m27.738s +1.865s
17 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m27.825s +1.952s
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m27.86s +1.987s
19 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m27.976s +2.103s
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams-Mercedes 1m28.112s +2.239s
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