Sebastian Vettel topped the third free practice session (FP3). After a lackluster Friday, Mercedes finally got into the top four of a session, Valtteri Bottas finished second and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth. In between them was Kimi Raikkonen in third position on the timesheets.
Hungarian GP – Sebastian Vettel Tops FP3 As Mercedes Improves
The hour-long session had pristine weather the whole way through. Before the session started the air temperature was 27 degrees C while the track was a piping 53 degrees C. The Pirelli tyre choices for this weekend were Medium, Soft and Ultrasoft tyres. Most cars opted for the Ultrasoft tyres in this session.
Business was as usual for the first half of the practice session, with everyone running their laps as planned. During this time, the commentators did not mind discussing at length the state of Force India, and their interested buyers. It really started to get busy at the halfway point of the session.
Mercedes Goes For A Spin, And Other Events
It was deja vu for the Mercedes garage as Hamilton and Bottas experienced trouble in the turn 7 and 8 chicanes. Both lost grip going into the turns and going off the track. Bottas experienced a more dramatic detour than Hamilton, but for the most part, both walked away unscathed.
The Sky Sports F1 commentary team raised questions about Max Verstappen as he was still frequently leaving track limits on his laps when the session was nearing its end. You would think that he would be trying to adjust to how he would drive in Qualifying as much as possible.
The Final Minutes Of FP3
Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly experienced frustration in the final laps of the session after traffic messed up his hot lap. For his best interest he should hope that the frustration does not carry over to Q1.
And that’s exactly what everyone’s sights are set on now. Qualifying kicks off in a couple of hours, determining who will lead the 34th Hungarian GP. Although one thing that isn’t certain until Sunday is the winner of the race. As we saw last week, nothing is certain until it’s all over. Hungarian GP kicks off on Sunday at 9AM EST, and 2PM BST.
Full FP3 Results:
| Pos | # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:16.170 | 16 | |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:16.229 | +0.059s | 17 |
| 3 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:16.373 | +0.203s | 16 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:16.749 | +0.579s | 17 |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:16.803 | +0.633s | 11 |
| 6 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:16.946 | +0.776s | 14 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1:17.754 | +1.584s | 17 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:18.083 | +1.913s | 18 |
| 9 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:18.084 | +1.914s | 19 |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:18.139 | +1.969s | 22 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:18.230 | +2.060s | 17 |
| 12 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | 1:18.252 | +2.082s | 19 |
| 13 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber | 1:18.376 | +2.206s | 19 |
| 14 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:18.467 | +2.297s | 15 |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:18.512 | +2.342s | 20 |
| 16 | 35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams | 1:18.630 | +2.460s | 17 |
| 17 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:18.789 | +2.619s | 14 |
| 18 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:18.842 | +2.672s | 18 |
| 19 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:18.962 | +2.792s | 18 |
| 20 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:19.132 | +2.962s | 20 |
MAIN PHOTO:
Embed from Getty Images
