FP3 France: Verstappen beats Sainz and Leclerc who are struggling

The weekend into France continues at full speed with the FP3, the last free practice session before qualifying at Paul Ricard. Yesterday between Ferrari and Red Bull we saw two different scenarios. The Rossa immediately found itself well on the track, graduating as fastest in both FP1 that in the FP2. Obtaining feedback, however, not so encouraging on the long-run, however small. In home Red Bull instead we saw a completely different situation. The pilots have complained about several balance problems, failing to find the pace on the flying lap.

Both teams have brought updates but the biggest stumbling block is tire management. In particular, Ferrari has brought a profoundly renewed fund, tested by both drivers yesterday. An update to respond to the many brought by Red Bull who have been in trouble lately Sergio Perez. After an intense night's work the cars in the FP3 they are back on track showing us an opposite situation. A Red Bull in more difficulty than yesterday in race pace simulation, even more than Ferrari which in the meantime decided the fate of Carlos Sainz.

Sainz and Magnussen will start from the bottom

The official communications arrived during FP3 regarding i you change in house Ferrari he is at home Haas. Carlos Sainz will have to pay for one penalty which will lead him to a start from the bottom. There will also be another Ferrari-powered driver to keep him company, that is Kevin Magnussen which fitted a new turbo, MGU-H, MGU-K and ICE. The Maranello team, which yesterday had already changed the ECU on car number 55, decided on the same strategy used in Canada Leclerc changing to Saturday further elements for a great comeback in the race. We remind you that both Magnussen and Sainz at Fanta F1 will take 0 in qualifying due to the penalties.

Red Bull and Ferrari: something doesn't add up

We don't know if Red Bull and Ferrari are in hiding with the mappings and how much more loaded with petrol they are but what we can get from the FP3 is a rather strange scenario. The RB18 of Max Verstappen seems to have found the performance in qualifying much desired by the Dutchman who had warned his track engineer Gianpiero Lambiase yesterday, with a cold "ok the race but I don't want to start fourth or fifth!". A strange situation also for Ferrari which lapped slower than yesterday. A symptom that this update is still in its infancy?

La Ferrari with the news he still found one good correlation between simulator data and the track even if the Red Bull still seems to have better pace and a more precise car. Now that we have reached the end, the situation becomes increasingly complicated to decipher. Compared to Sainz, Charles seems to suffer particularly from the balance of the F1-75 especially in the third sector, while Verstappen has no rivals in the strides.

Ranking center?

Red Bull and Ferrari detach the others by about a second but even behind the scenes it is difficult to focus. With Sainz forced to start from the back and Perez in difficulty, several teams could attempt the assault. Alpine with Alonso, and Williams with Albon proved to be the fastest after the Mercedes duo about 1 second away from the peak. Closing the Top 10 of FP3 were Lando Norris' McLaren and Yuki Tsunoda's AlphaTauri, which had a more linear session than yesterday. We recall that the Faenza team is the one that has brought about the most significant changes, with a profoundly AT03 updated. Bad once again Aston Martin, in the last two positions.

Here is the FP3 standings